Damaged Goods
by ChestyMcBoobs
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist. (EricOC, CalleighSpeed. Sequel to Ripped. COMPLETE!)
1. Secrets, Lies, and Screaming Orgasms

Title: Damaged Goods (1/?)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: PG-13 (Rating will go up to an R, at least, in later chapters.)  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Your feedback = my inspiration = more frequent updates.  
  
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.  
  
Note: I better make it clear right off the bat that this is going to be a DARK fic. Several chapters will contain semi-graphic rape scenes, and the fic itself deals with some fairly adult themes (abuse, date-rape drugs, etc.) I know some people are upset or offended by violence of that nature, so I'll be sure and post clear warnings in chapters that contain such scenes.  
  
Dedication: To Yana, because she helped me choose the title, and without her, I might STILL be looking at a blank screen, trying to figure out how the hell to start this mutha. Most of the credit for the first scene goes to her.  
  
Soundtrack: "Rest In Pieces" by Saliva and "Wild Horses" by the Sundays.  
  
____________________________  
  
"Eric, come on, please?" Calleigh begged, tugging impatiently at her friend's arm. "Please?"  
  
Scowling, Eric shook her off and turned to Tim. "Jesus, Speed, doesn't she get annoying in bed?"  
  
"Hey!" Calleigh gasped indignantly, slapping him on the shoulder as her cheeks turned beet red. "At least I don't moan like some kind of fucking barnyard animal in heat."  
  
"How the fuck would you know that?" Eric asked. He didn't exactly deny her accusation, as he remembered almost immediately how she would have known. He turned back to the evidence cabinet, trying not to think about it.  
  
Calleigh sighed and shook her head. "Fine, be miserable!" She turned to the two men behind her, beseeching them silently to help her out.  
  
"Delko, you're going with us whether you like it or not." Hagen spoke up. "We're dragging you out of this damn hole you've dug yourself into."  
  
"Why do you care?" Eric snapped.  
  
"I don't." Hagen replied. "You're just really starting to annoy me. Not to mention these two won't stop whining about how depressed you are."  
  
"Come on, man." Tim added. "If not for your own sake, then for ours. Hagen's face is screwed up enough as it is, without that retarded frown."  
  
Calleigh stifled a laugh, and Eric managed a smile. Hagen just rolled his eyes and muttered something about actually shaving, unlike some people.  
  
"All right, fine, I'll go." Eric threw his hands up in defeat. The three of them were only going to get more annoying if he kept refusing. "On one condition."  
  
"Maria's not coming with us." Calleigh assured him. Hagen started to say something, and Calleigh stomped on his foot. "Shut up!" She hissed.  
  
Eric had already suspected she was lying, and that just confirmed it. But amazingly enough, he didn't care. "All right, whatever, let's just get this over with."  
  
_____________________  
  
Look at me  
  
My depth perception must be off again  
  
Cause this hurts deeper than I thought it did  
  
It has not healed with time  
  
It just shot down my spine  
  
You look so beautiful tonight  
  
Reminds me how you lay us down  
  
And gently smiled  
  
Before you destroyed my life  
  
Could you find it in your heart  
  
To make this go away  
  
And let me rest in pieces?  
  
________________________  
  
"Henry, gimme another Screaming Orgasm." Maria said to the bartender.  
  
"I don't know, Maria, I don't think my wife would appreciate that." The thirtysomething man replied, winking at her as he mixed the drink.  
  
"That joke gets funnier every time I order that goddamn drink." Maria rolled her eyes.  
  
"This is just your second one, right?" Henry asked, eying the young woman suspiciously.   
  
"Yeah." Maria said. "I'm going to need a lot more, after the day I've had." She stuck her arm under Henry's nose. "Smell this! I swear to God, my job makes me fucking reek of death!"  
  
"What I meant was, you're not holding it as well as you usually do." Henry continued, unphased.   
  
"Well, I haven't eaten all day." Maria shrugged. "You try doing my job and having any kind of appetite." Pouting, she turned away from the bar, just in time to see some familiar faces by the door. "Hey!" She called, springing off of the stool she was sitting on and darting through the crowd on the dance floor to greet her friends.  
  
Eric shot a look at Calleigh, who shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
"Hey, I said she wasn't coming with us." She said. "You didn't ask if she was going to meet us here."  
  
"Jesus Christ, I thought I was gonna have to send out a search party." Maria exclaimed as she reached the group.  
  
"We had a straggler." Calleigh replied. She waved a hand in front of her face. "Besides, judging from your breath, you had no trouble occupying yourself while you waited."  
  
"Bite me, I've only had one drink." Maria said defensively. "Hey Speed." She greeted Tim, then grabbed Hagen's tie and started to pull him towards the dance floor. "Come on, I love this song."  
  
"Baby, you know I can't dance for shit when I'm sober." Hagen complained. His protests were ignored, however.  
  
"You saw that, right?" Eric asked Calleigh and Tim. "I'm not invisible, right?"  
  
"Well, you didn't exactly go out of your way to acknowledge her." Calleigh pointed out.  
  
"And did he just call her 'baby?'" Eric continued, ignoring Calleigh's reply.  
  
"I didn't hear that." Tim said quickly. Too quickly.   
  
"Yeah, me neither." Calleigh agreed. "Come on, let's get some drinks."  
  
_________________________  
  
Look at me  
  
My depth perception must be off again  
  
You got much closer than I thought you did  
  
I'm in your reach  
  
You held me in your hands  
  
Could you find it in your heart  
  
To make this go away  
  
And let me rest in pieces?  
  
Could you find it in your heart  
  
To make this go away  
  
And let me rest in pieces?  
  
_________________________  
  
"You know, we should invite Horatio along sometime." Eric suggested. He and Tim exchanged looks, then burst out laughing.  
  
"Yeah, H would have a great time with this crowd." Tim said sarcastically. He looked around at the seemingly endless mass of writhing, grinding, barely clad young bodies on the dance floor. The bar opened out onto the beach, where a number of couples had sought a private spot behind a dune or a bush to fool around. Off to one side, two bodies in particular caught his eye.   
  
"What are you gawking at, man?" Eric asked. "Oh, holy shit."  
  
Tim tried to think of something to say, anything to distract his friend.  
  
"Holy shit." Eric repeated, watching Maria and Hagen making out in a dark corner of the bar. "How long has that been going on?"  
  
"What, you mean those two?" Tim feigned ignorance. "That's nothing, man, they're both wasted. Probably won't even remember it tomorrow. Too bad we don't have a camera, that's some great backmail material."  
  
Eric rolled his eyes. "You know, Speed, you're a really pathetic liar when you've been drinking."  
  
"Fine, you want to know the truth?" Tim groaned. "She's been sleeping with him for a week. There, happy now?"  
  
"So, two weeks after we broke up, she moved on to her next victim." Eric said. "Whatever, it's not like I give a fuck."  
  
"Now who's the pathetic liar?" Tim said.  
  
"I swear to God, I think I saw a woman get pregnant, carry her baby to full term, and give birth while I was waiting in that bathroom line!" Calleigh exclaimed as she returned to her spot at the bar. "You can always tell when a place like this wasn't designed by a woman." She noticed that neither of the men seemed to have heard her. Then she saw why. "Oh my God, Eric, listen-"  
  
"Don't bother." Eric cut her off. "I already know."  
  
"Tim!" Calleigh groaned, casting an accusing look at her boyfriend.   
  
"Cal, I swear, he tortured me." Tim defended himself. "Besides, you know how honest I get after a couple of beers."  
  
"True." Calleigh sighed. She turned to Eric. "It's nothing, it's just a fling. That's why we didn't tell you."  
  
"Hey, I don't really care." Eric insisted. "Whatever the hell it was between us is over, she can fuck whoever she wants."  
  
Calleigh and Tim exchanged looks.   
  
Looks that said 'He's only fooling himself.'   
  
_________________________  
  
Childhood living is easy to do   
  
The things you wanted I bought them for you   
  
Graceless lady, you know who I am   
  
You know I can't let you slide through my hands   
  
Wild Horses  
  
Couldn't drag me away   
  
Wild Horses  
  
Couldn't drag me away  
  
_________________________  
  
"Delko, if you don't stop trying to look up my skirt, so help me..." Maria warned.  
  
"Well, maybe if you weren't dancing on the bar directly in front of me!" Eric shot back. "Besides, it's not like there's anything up there that I haven't seen, up close and personal."  
  
"God, you are a-" Maria's insult stopped abruptly as she toppled forward.  
  
Eric caught her instinctively. Glancing around, he saw Calleigh and Tim kissing in the same dark corner where Maria and Hagen had been only about an hour earlier. Hagen was nowhere to be seen, and no one else seemed to have noticed, so he kept one arm wrapped protectively around her as he made his way through the crowd and out onto the beach. He gently set her down on a bench, and crouched in front of her as she winced and placed one hand against her stomach.  
  
"Hey, take it easy." He said, brushing her hair aside and scanning her face. Aside from being completely hammered, she looked all right.  
  
He had to admit to himself that even in her inebriated state, she still looked better than all right to him. Her honey blonde hair, which had been pulled into a loose ponytail during the day, was loose and slightly wavy around her face and down her back. She had changed before coming to the bar, and her short denim skirt showed off the light tan on her legs, while her lacy, cream colored silk top flowed over her upper body, exposing just enough of her breasts to entice him. Her full lips were painted a deep, dramatic red, and it took every ounce of willpower he had not to lean in and capture those lips in a searing kiss.  
  
His inability to see her as anything other than gorgeous had been his main motive for avoiding her as much as possible in the past three weeks. He acted indifferent, claimed to anyone who would listen that he was only giving her the cold shoulder because that was what she was doing to him. He had a feeling, however, that it was written all over his face that he couldn't look at Maria without remembering what it felt like to be inside of her, couldn't brush against her accidentally without imagining her writhing and thrashing with pleasure in his arms, couldn't hear her speak without remembering the way she would scream his name.  
  
"What the fuck?" Maria's hoarse voice jolted him back into reality, and he put one hand on her back to steady her as she tilted her head back, pressing her hand against her eyes.  
  
"You fell right off the bar." Eric told her. "Did you black out or something?"  
  
"I don't think so." Maria replied, shaking her head and blinking a few times. "No, I think one of my heels caught on something."   
  
She stretched her legs out, pointing to her red ankle-wrap stiletto sandals. Eric sucked in a breath as an image of her wearing nothing but those shoes flashed into his mind. He forced those thoughts away. He didn't feel like he had the right to think about her like that anymore.  
  
"I'm fine, come on, let's get back inside before the others start wondering where we went." Maria said. She stood up, then promptly sagged back onto the bench.  
  
"Clearly, you're not fine." Eric insisted. "And what? Suddenly you're concerned about what the others think if we disappear for five minutes? Or maybe you're just concerned about what Hagen might think." Maria looked up at him, and he shrugged. "Didn't think I would find out, huh?"  
  
"It's not what you think." Maria said lamely.  
  
"So you're not sleeping with him?" Eric scoffed.  
  
"What do you want me to say, Eric?" Maria snapped. "Yes, I'm sleeping with John, okay? It's different, it's not like it was with us. When I tell him that it's just sex, he actually listens."  
  
"Well, I'm happy for you." Eric told her. "You two deserve each other."  
  
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" Maria demanded. "Know what? Never mind. You want to be a jealous little boy, go right ahead." She stood up again, closing her eyes and leaning on the bench.  
  
"I just want to know why." Eric said, his tone softer. "Why it's so impossible for you to accept how I feel about you. Why you can't admit that you might actually feel something for me."  
  
Maria's eyes welled up and she bit her lower lip. "I...I don't know, okay? I don't!" With that, she turned on her heel and walked back into the bar.  
  
"Fuck." Eric muttered under his breath. He sat down on the bench and ran one hand through his hair. That girl was going to drive him crazy.  
  
Or maybe she already had.  
  
________________________  
  
I watched you suffer a dull, aching pain   
  
Now you decided to show me the same   
  
No sweeping exits or offstage lines   
  
Can make me feel bitter or treat you unkind  
  
Wild Horses  
  
Couldn't drag me away   
  
Wild Horses  
  
Couldn't drag me away  
  
________________________  
  
"Okay, Delko, it's your turn." Calleigh announced, cuddling a little closer to Tim in the booth the five of them occupied. "What's the weirdest place you and Maria ever did dirty?"  
  
Eric almost choked on his beer. He glanced at Maria, who was finishing her third drink, seeming completely unaffected by the question. "You know, Cal, I don't think I'm drunk enough to answer that."  
  
"I bet Maria is." Hagen laughed. "How about it, babe?"  
  
Maria giggled, completely out of it. "Hmm...okay...the dressing room at the La Perla boutique in Coral Gables." She admitted. "What? I'd been dragging him around every shop in town all day, and then made him wait for half an hour while I tried on underwear, I figured he'd earned it."  
  
"It was worth it." Eric said. He hated that he and Maria had to be drunk before they could be civil to one another, but he decided he would take whatever he could get. "But that wasn't the weirdest."  
  
"Eric Delko, don't you fucking dare tell them that." Maria warned.  
  
"Uh-oh, I think we need to hear this one." Tim said. "Come on, Delko, spill."  
  
"All right." Eric said. "Remember last month, when H called Maria in on her day off? And the two of them got into it over a suspect that she thought was innocent? Well, after he'd left, and there weren't too many folks around, she was still pretty pissed, so we talked one of the guards into unlocking his office, saying she'd left something in there..."  
  
"Holy shit." Calleigh gasped. "You didn't." Maria was the more rebellious member of the team, and despite her respect for Horatio, she did clash with him occasionally, but this was unbelievable.  
  
"On the desk." Eric confessed. "And in the chair. Hey, it wasn't my idea, but I wasn't about to say no. She's pretty hot when she's mad, what can I say?"  
  
"I cannot fucking believe you." Maria moaned, letting her head drop to the table. "I swear to God, if I had any depth perception whatsoever, you'd be missing a few appendages by now."  
  
"Relax, none of them are going to remember this by tomorrow morning." Eric replied.  
  
"Hey, I am not drunk!" Calleigh protested. "Okay, maybe I'm a little tipsy, but that's it. I came here to unwind, not get shitfaced. Besides, unlike some people, I know what my limits are."  
  
Maria pouted. "So do I! Three cocktails, and a lot of water, and I'll wake up tomorrow without even a hint of a hangover."  
  
"I don't know what was in those three drinks." Calleigh pressed. "But this is the most wasted I've ever seen you."  
  
"I'm fine." Maria said. "Just tired. Maybe it's time to call it a night."  
  
"Like any of us are in any shape to drive?" Tim pointed out.  
  
"We'll call a cab." Maria shrugged.  
  
"We'll need more than one." Hagen added.  
  
"Now where's the fun in that?" Maria asked. "Come on, if I can fit four Kennedys, two Hamiltons, and a Hilton sister into one BMW Cooper at my twenty-fourth birthday party, this should be a snap."  
  
"Okay, next time you're drunk," Tim said as the four of them followed her out of the bar. "We're going to need to hear that story."  
  
___________________________  
  
"Hey, Cal, wake up."  
  
Sighing, Calleigh turned over, pretending to still be asleep. She had to admit, of all the ways to wake up, the sound of Tim's voice was her favorite.  
  
His apartment had been chosen as the place for everyone to crash, being equally close to the bar, and to the crime lab. With their friends racked out in the living room, he and Calleigh had snuck off to his bedroom. They'd been too tired to do anything more than kiss and hold each other until they fell asleep, but sometimes even that was enough.  
  
Besides, she was already planning for them to make up for it later.  
  
"Come on, I know you're awake." His voice was followed seconds later by his fingers gently tracing her spine. He tickled the back of her neck slightly, and she giggled.  
  
"No fair!" She said, sitting up and beaning him over the head with a pillow. "You know that's my one ticklish spot!"  
  
"I've found a few others." He replied, pulling her close for a kiss. "Good morning."  
  
"Mmm." She sighed against his lips. "It sure is."  
  
"Come on, I made coffee." Tim said, taking her by the hand and leading her out to the hallway. "And you have got to see the scene in the living room."  
  
Hagen was sprawled out on his side on the couch, facing towards the back of it with his lower body on the ground. Next to him, Eric had ended up with his legs over the opposite arm of the couch, and his arm over the back. Both of them were snoring like buzz saws.  
  
In the armchair across from the couch, Maria was sleeping soundly. Her jacket, purse, and one stiletto had ended up between the door and the chair. One foot, the one that still had a shoe on it, was on the coffee table. The other leg was bent and splayed over the back of the chair, and her head was hanging off the side, her mouth slightly open.  
  
"Well, this is a charming bunch." Calleigh laughed. She looked at Tim. "You know, as a group, we're not the coolest."  
  
"Definitely not." Tim agreed. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled.  
  
"Aw, mom...five more minutes...fifteen...just another hour or two..." Eric muttered under his breath.  
  
Hagen sat up slightly, opened his eyes, then winced and fell back against the couch.  
  
"Coffee?" Tim asked, amused.  
  
"Yes, please." The detective managed to groan as he pulled himself up.  
  
"Just put it in an IV and hook it up to my arm." Eric said, not opening his eyes.  
  
"Nope, up and at 'em." Calleigh said, walking over to the couch and grabbing his arm to pull him up.  
  
"Ow! All right, all right, I'm up." Eric protested. "Just quit manhandling me." He sat up and rubbed his arm. "Geez, you've got a grip. Hey Speed, glad I'm not you."  
  
"Funny!" Calleigh sighed. As the men stumbled into the kitchen, she regarded her sleeping roommate and shook her head. "You can sleep through all of that, but when Tim and I try to fool around with you in the next room, we're keeping you awake." She shook Maria's arm gently, then not as gently. "Maria, come on, this isn't funny. Maria!" She placed her hand on the other woman's chest and felt her breathing in very slow, shallow gasps. "You guys! Get in here!"  
  
The three men came back quickly, moved by the urgency in Calleigh's voice. "What's wrong?" Tim asked.  
  
"I don't know!" Calleigh said. "Something's wrong with her, I can't wake her up."  
  
"Maria? Can you hear me?" Hagen knelt down beside Maria and checked her pulse. "Delko, call an ambulance."   
  
"Oh my God." Calleigh breathed. Tim put his arms around her to steady her, and she leaned into him, not taking her eyes off of Maria for a second.  
  
__________________  
  
TBC… 


	2. MIA, DOA

Title: Damaged Goods (2/?)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review, or I'll send Maria to your house, y'hear?  
  
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.  
  
Dedication: To Yana, again, because she helped me get over writer's block, again! And to Jackie, in hopes that she won't kill Calleigh in her fic.  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"What have we got?" A doctor asked.  
  
"Maria Santiago, twenty-four." One of the paramedics replied. "Possible drug overdose or alcohol poisoning."  
  
"Whoa, wait just a second!" Calleigh snapped, having arrived with the three men seconds after the ambulance. "She had three drinks, over three hours. And there is no fucking way it's drugs, she's a cop, for God's sake!"  
  
"She could have been slipped something." The doctor said. He sized up the three men standing behind Calleigh. "All four of you were out with her? Is there any chance you might have played a prank on her or anything?"  
  
"What the hell are you implying?" Hagen demanded, getting right up in the doctor's face.  
  
"He's not implying anything." Eric said. "He's accusing us, right to our faces, of being sick enough to do this to Maria."  
  
"Okay, guys, take a deep breath." Tim cut in, the voice of reason once more. "They have to ask these questions if they're going to help her." He turned to the doctor. "Look, there's no way any of us would hurt this girl, all right? We're all cops, too. And we're her friends, so obviously everyone's a little on edge right now."  
  
"I understand that." The doctor replied calmly. "But all of you need to understand that there is nothing you can do right now, aside from getting in the way."  
  
"Yeah." Calleigh said, taking a deep breath. "Guys, come on, we'll wait outside. Besides, someone needs to check in with Horatio." She started to leave the room, followed by Hagen and Tim. In the doorway, she turned back. "Eric, come on."  
  
Eric stood for another moment, watching as doctors and nurses swarmed around Maria. As someone moved to put an oxygen mask over her face, blocking her from his view, he finally snapped out of it and followed the others out of the room.  
  
____________________  
  
Horatio frowned as he crouched down beside Alexx, looking at the body of a redhaired girl, probably in her early twenties. She looked like she could have been beautiful once. Before someone put a gun to her forehead and pulled the trigger.  
  
"Cause of death is no mystery." Alexx said, indicating the bullet hole. "At least we know you didn't suffer." The girl's face was so relaxed, it seemed likely that she had, in fact, been sound asleep when she was killed.  
  
"There's nothing on her." Jade announced, emerging from the main room of the upscale suite. "The whole room looks like it hasn't been used, the towels and toiletries in the bathroom are untouched, there's no luggage. And it doesn't look like you'll find any I.D, there's not even a wallet."  
  
Alexx looked at Horatio, raising an eyebrow. "Where is everyone?" She asked, surprised to see one of her assistants doing the jobs of the rest of the team.  
  
"Your guess is as good as mine." Horatio replied, annoyed at the younger CSIs, but at the same time, increasingly worried.  
  
"They're all MIA?" Alexx asked. "That's strange." She could tell that Horatio was concerned. "I'm sure everything's fine, though."  
  
"This is so unlike them, though." Horatio pointed out. "It's one thing for one of them to be late, but for all four of them to be this late, and not have their cell phones on, just doesn't make sense."  
  
Alexx nodded. "Well, you're right about that." She turned her attention to another tech who approached her from the second bedroom.  
  
Horatio's cell phone rang. "Just a second." He checked the caller ID window. "Speed, where are you? I've been trying to call you for an hour."  
  
"Sorry about that, H." Tim replied calmly. "We had to turn off our cells, hospital policy."  
  
"Hospital?" Horatio repeated. "What's going on?"  
  
"It's Maria, we're not sure what the problem is." Tim explained. "We were out at a bar last night, this morning we couldn't wake her up. They're running some tests on her now."  
  
"All right, listen, don't worry about coming in." Horatio told him. "We'll call the graveyard shift back in. Keep me posted, call me if she wakes up."  
  
"Will do." Tim said.  
  
"Thanks, Speed." Horatio hung up the cell phone and looked at Alexx, who was no longer focused on the victim. "It's Maria, they couldn't wake her up this morning, after they went out for drinks last night."  
  
"They thinking alcohol poisoning?" Alexx asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm not sure." Horatio admitted. "Speed said they were running some tests."  
  
"Front desk says this suite's been empty for three days." Detective Sevilla announced, coming into the room. "Last occupants were a guy on a business trip, and his teenage son and daughter. All three checked out on Monday, and there was nothing unusual about the room when housekeeping came through." She noticed that Horatio and Alexx weren't so focused on the case any more. "Did you hear from the team?"  
  
"Maria's in the hospital, they're not sure what's wrong with her." Horatio said. "They went out for drinks last night, now she's unconscious."  
  
Sevilla looked stunned. "Jesus Christ. Do you need to get over there?"  
  
"Not yet." Horatio replied. "Speedle's going to call me as soon as they know anything." He gestured to the body on the bed. "Whatever's wrong with Maria, we've got someone here who's a lot worse off."  
  
_________________________  
  
"Any luck?" Tim asked, approaching the vending machine Calleigh was standing in front of.  
  
Calleigh inspected the contents of the styrofoam cup and wrinkled her nose. "Well, this time it's hot, and it's got cream in it...but it's still chicken soup." She tossed the cup into the trash can and made her way back to the waiting area. "But who needs coffee? We can pass the time by catching up on current events in these very up to date magazines." She held up an issue of 'Life.' "Oh, look, Tricia Nixon's getting married." She threw the magazine aside and sank into a chair, scowling. "I fucking hate hospitals."  
  
Tim didn't say anything, he just sat down beside her and gently pulled her so she was leaning against his chest.   
  
"It's taking too long." Calleigh said, despairing. "If she was all right, we would have heard something by now."  
  
"Hey, she's going to be fine." Tim assured her. He pressed his lips gently against her forehead and rubbed her back. "We were with her all night, we know she didn't take anything, and she only had three drinks."  
  
"Then what the hell is taking so long?" Calleigh asked rhetorically. "I hate it. I hate that there's something wrong with her, and I can't do anything about it."  
  
"You hate feeling helpless, I know." Tim said. "I understand. But I hate seeing you this upset. It makes me feel helpless. Because I love you."  
  
Calleigh lifted her head up and looked into his eyes. "Tim..."  
  
Tim mentally kicked himself. "Yeah, this was probably the wrong time and place to say that for the first time..."  
  
"No, it's perfect." Calleigh said, kissing him softly. "I love you, too."  
  
_______________________  
  
"What are you reading?" Eric asked.  
  
"Cat Fancy." Hagen replied.  
  
Eric raised an eyebrow. "Is there anything else?"  
  
"If there was, would I be reading Cat Fancy?" Hagen snapped.  
  
"I honestly have no idea." Eric shrugged.   
  
"You found out, huh?" Hagen observed.  
  
"Well, you two were practically mating on the dance floor about three feet away from me last night." Eric scoffed.  
  
"Yeah, sorry about that." Hagen said. "Actually, no I'm not. You know as well as I do how hard it is to say no to Maria. Did you seriously get it on with her in Horatio's office? Man, if he ever found out about that..."  
  
"I could plead temporary insanity." Eric admitted. "You've got a point, it's damn near impossible to say no to her. Next time you're at the girls' apartment, check the bookshelf in her room. Ten bucks says you find some kinda mind control manual." He shook his head. "You do realize that we are her man-whores, right?"  
  
"Speak for yourself." Hagen told him. "I am not her...ah, fuck it. Yeah, I'm her bitch."  
  
Eric shrugged. "Yeah, well, let me give you some advice, one man-bitch to another. Do not fall in love with that girl. And if you do, keep your damn mouth shut. Because the way I'm feeling right now? I wouldn't wish it on anyone." He stood up. "I'm gonna check in with H."  
  
_______________________  
  
"Wonder what they're talking about." Calleigh said, observing the two men on the opposite side of the waiting area.   
  
"Comparing war stories." Tim suggested. "Maybe they'll form a Maria Survivors club."  
  
"Hey." Calleigh laughed, smacking him playfully. "Watch it. She may be a total nympho, but she's still my best friend."  
  
A young woman in the hideous pink jacket that marked her as a volunteer entered the waiting area. "Miss...uh...erm...oh, hell, Maria Santiago's...friend?"  
  
Calleigh smirked at the obvious difficulty the girl was having pronouncing her name. "I'm Calleigh Duquesne, Maria's roommate. How is she?"  
  
"Well, she's stabilized." The volunteer replied. "Doctor Anders will need to talk to you before you can see her."  
  
"Oh, okay." Calleigh said. "Tim, could you tell Eric and John-"  
  
"I'm sorry, just you." The girl interrupted. "You're listed as her emergency contact, we can't release information about a patient to anyone else."  
  
Calleigh sighed and let go of Tim's hand. "All right."  
  
_____________________  
  
"Miss Duquesne?" The older doctor smiled warmly. "I'm Doctor Anders, I treated your friend."  
  
"How is she?" Calleigh asked, barely concealing her anxiety.  
  
"She's going to be fine." Dr. Anders replied. "But I'm afraid the results of her tox screen showed a very high dose of GHB - gamma hydroxybutyrate. It's a date-rape drug-"  
  
Calleigh put up her hand, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "I know what GHB is."  
  
"Your friend was lucky." Dr. Anders continued. "GHB is a very unpredictable drug, it reacts differently to every individual's body chemistry. What would have been enough to merely intoxicate someone else would have killed Maria, if you hadn't gotten her here when you did."  
  
"Jesus Christ." Calleigh sagged against the wall.  
  
"We did an internal exam. There's no sign of rape, or of intercourse for that matter." Dr. Anders assured her.  
  
"No, I didn't think there would be." Calleigh said. "She was with us all last night, and then just passed out in my boyfriend's apartment. I just can't believe that someone drugged her."  
  
"We pumped her stomach and gave her charcoal." Dr. Anders said. "She'll need to stay here, at least until this afternoon, and she might feel weak and have trouble keeping food down for a few days, but she's going to be fine."  
  
"Thank you." Calleigh sighed, shaking the doctor's hand. "Can we see her?"  
  
"Absolutely." Dr. Anders replied. "She's asleep right now, but she should be awake soon enough. Why don't you go and get your friends?"  
  
________________________  
  
"We've got an I.D on our victim." Adele said, bursting into the hotel room, out of breath. With the team out of commission, and only a few CSIs from the graveyard shift willing and able to return to work, the investigation was dangerously close to becoming chaotic. "Natalie Mullaly, twenty-one. She and her friend Dawn Aberdine were staying in this hotel on a two-week vacation from London. When Natalie didn't come back to their suite last night, and didn't answer her cell phone, Dawn called the front desk, and they alerted security."  
  
"Some vacation." Horatio grimaced. "Has Dawn given us a positive I.D?"  
  
"She just did, and was then escorted back to her suite to call Natalie's parents." Adele sighed. "She was pretty broken up."  
  
"Okay, I'm going to need to talk to her as soon as she's able." Horatio said.  
  
______________________  
  
"I can't get it out of my head." Dawn sniffled, clutching a cup of tea in her trembling hands. As devastated as she was, she had remembered her very British manners, offering Horatio and Adele a cup of tea as soon as they had arrived in her suite. They had graciously accepted her offer, and now all three sat on the couch, the dark-haired young tourist seated between the two cops. "Who could have done this to her?"  
  
"That's what we're going to find out." Horatio told her. "And what would help us, is if you could remember everything that you and Natalie did last night."  
  
"We...we went out to dinner." Dawn said, taking a deep, shaky breath. "I wanted to come right back here after, but Natalie really wanted to go to this bar down by the beach...The Luxe, I think. We were there for a while, I met a nice chap. While I was dancing with him, Nat came over and said she had a headache, and was going to take a cab back here. I offered to go with her, but she said she was all right." She sobbed quietly. "When I got back, she wasn't here. I thought maybe she'd met someone, or gone for a walk, so I just went to bed. I shouldn't have let her leave alone..."  
  
"You had no way of knowing this would happen." Horatio said soothingly, rubbing the young woman's back with one hand as she broke down.  
  
_______________________  
  
"So someone grabbed her off the street." Adele guessed as they left the suite. "Either in front of the bar, or back here at the hotel."  
  
"It looks that way, doesn't it?" Horatio agreed. His cell phone rang. "Excuse me. Horatio."  
  
"It's Alexx. I've got the results of Natalie's tox screen." Alexx said. "Blood alcohol wasn't off the charts, but the GHB in her system was."  
  
"So it was a drug rape." Horatio said. A beep over the line indicated that he had another call incoming. "Thank you, Alexx. Keep me posted." He hit a button to answer the other call. "Yeah?"  
  
"H, Maria's awake." Tim's voice greeted him. "She's a little disoriented, but she's going to be fine."  
  
"Speed, that's great news. I'll be there as soon as I can." Horatio   
  
replied. "Did they figure out what was wrong with her?"  
  
"Looks like someone slipped something into her drink at the bar last night, before we got there." Tim explained. Calleigh's voice was recognizable but indistinct in the background. "I'll be right there. H, I've got to go." The call cut off before Horatio could say anything.  
  
He felt a sudden chill as he recalled what Tim had said. "Damn it."  
  
________________________  
  
"You scared the hell out of us." Hagen said, leaning down to give Maria a kiss on her forehead. "Don't ever fucking do that again."  
  
Maria rolled her eyes and squeezed his hand. Her chin and hospital gown had a few dark gray streaks from the liquid charcoal that had been forced down her throat, and her skin was almost as white as the sterile sheets she lay on, but her green eyes had their usual spark. "You know, every damn time I end up in the fucking hospital, I get you people all up in my face, telling me I better not do that shit again. I can't figure out if you're all overly optimistic, or just really fucking stupid."  
  
"Well, that much cursing can only mean one thing." The group looked up and saw Horatio in the doorway. "You must be feeling better."  
  
"More or less, yeah." Maria said with a shrug. "Aside from feeling like I'm going to hurl...uh...again. And it feels like I've got the Main Street Parade at Disney World in my head. But yeah, other than that, can't complain."  
  
"Glad to hear it." Horatio said. "I think. Calleigh, could I see you outside?"  
  
"Yeah, sure." Calleigh stood up from her chair beside Maria's bed. She followed Horatio out into the corridor. "She's going to have to stay here until this afternoon, and it'll probably be a good idea for her to stay at home, at least tomorrow."  
  
"Speed said someone drugged her at the bar." Horatio said.  
  
"Yeah, she tested positive for GHB. A lot of it, too." Calleigh confirmed. "It makes me sick just thinking about it. You know, the doctor said that if we hadn't brought her in when we did, she would have been dead within an hour."  
  
Horatio grimaced at the thought. And at another thought that he couldn't shake. "Calleigh, this is important. What bar did you go to last night?"  
  
"Shit, I can barely remember, if you can believe that." Calleigh sighed. She thought for a moment. "Oh, I know! It was The Luxe. Why?"  
  
_____________________  
  
TBC... 


	3. Loose Lips

Title: Damaged Goods (3/?)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria (OC), Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review, or I'll send Maria to your house.  
  
Summary: A night out ends badly for the CSIs, and much worse for a young tourist.  
  
Dedication: Hell, I'm just gonna go ahead and dedicate this part to the whole damn list, cause ya'll just kick ass.  
  
Soundtrack: "This Land Is Mine" by Dido. If you haven't already, go pick up Life for Rent. The whole album is just unreal.  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"Are you sure?" Eric asked, reeling from what Horatio had just told him.  
  
"Not completely." Horatio replied. "But it doesn't seem like it could just be a coincidence, does it?"  
  
"So, the guy slips the stuff into her first drink." Tim mused. "When we show up, she's with a group, she's got safety in numbers. So she's not an attractive target anymore, and he moves on and finds another girl who's more vulnerable."  
  
"I think I'm going to be sick." Calleigh managed to say, taking a deep breath. "I mean...oh my God...if we'd gotten there even just a few minutes later..."  
  
Eric cringed. If he had resisted his friends' invitation for just a little longer, they would be having a very different conversation, maybe at that very moment. Even though he didn't want to, he kept picturing how that would have gone.   
  
They would have gotten to the bar and found that Maria wasn't there. Knowing her as well as they all did, they probably wouldn't have given it too much thought. Maybe she went home, maybe she went to visit her brother's wife and kids, she'd been spending more time at their house ever since Anton had been deployed. They would have had a few drinks, had their fun, and gone back to Tim's apartment.   
  
Considering when the body had been found, they would have just been leaving for the lab when Horatio would have called them, keeping his tone clipped, asking them to come to his office when they arrived. They would have filed in, all of them expecting to be reprimanded for their behavior, maybe a tech or someone else had spotted them at the bar and squealed on them.   
  
Eric could picture clearly in his mind the solemn look in Horatio's eyes, the pain, the frustration, as he asked them to sit down, and broke the news none of them could have expected.  
  
Horatio's voice pulled him out of his waking nightmare. "Eric? Did you hear me?"  
  
"Sorry...what?" Eric blinked a few times, trying to push the horrible thoughts to a far, dark corner of his mind.  
  
"I said we're not going to repeat one word of this to Maria. Not yet." Horatio told him. He looked at the three CSIs. "Understood?" All three of them nodded silently. "All right."  
  
"God, she's going to be so upset." Calleigh said as they walked back to Maria's room.  
  
"Yeah, I know." Tim put his arm around her. "But we've got to act like nothing's wrong. At least for now." They all paused and collected themselves before entering the room.  
  
Just in time to see Maria slap Hagen across the face. "Geez, you're dumb! Thank God for that ass." She sighed, a small grin lighting up her tired face.  
  
He smiled at her slightly as he rubbed his cheek. "Nice to see that fiery Latina temper of yours is as healthy as ever."  
  
"And don't you forget it, pal." Maria replied, pointing a finger at him and grinning. She looked up and saw her friends. "Hey. Can someone get this perv out of here? He's not helping my blood pressure."  
  
"I think that can be arranged." Tim said. He looked at Hagen. "Horatio needs to talk to you, anyway."  
  
"Anything wrong?" Hagen asked.  
  
"No, nothing, he just needs to talk to all of us about last night." Calleigh replied quickly.  
  
Hagen shrugged. "All right. I'll be right back." He kissed Maria gently before leaving the room.  
  
Maria placed one hand against her chest and groaned softly, causing her friends to crowd around her instantly.  
  
"Are you okay?" Eric asked. "Do you need us to get the doctor?"  
  
"No, I'm fine." Maria took a deep, labored breath. "Just a little short of breath, Dr. Anders said that might last for a day or two." She rolled her eyes when none of them stepped back. "Jesus, it's gonna be a lot harder to breathe if you guys don't back the fuck up off me, okay? Look, I'm fine. And that's mostly thanks to you guys. I'd be a lot worse off if it weren't for you."  
  
Her friends exchanged worried looks. Had she somehow found out?  
  
"Just the thought of waking up naked in a strange apartment or some seedy motel room...God, if you guys hadn't gotten to the bar when you did, that's where I'd be." Maria continued. "If I'd woken up at all, that is. The doc said I was lucky that you guys tried to wake me up when you did."  
  
"We're just glad you're all right." Tim assured her. "And we'll find out who did this."  
  
"I know." Maria said. As the others began to relax, she let out a choked gasp and clutched her chest. They were hovering around her again at once, and she laughed. "Shit, are you guys that easy, or am I just that good?"  
  
Eric gave her a look. "Oh, that's nice. Use our concern for you against us for your own amusement."  
  
"I think I will." Maria replied in the same playfully sarcastic tone.  
  
"Well, as long as we're all on the same page." Calleigh laughed. She turned her head slightly toward the open door, just in time to see Hagen's reaction to the same news Horatio had told them minutes before. He looked like he'd been kicked in the stomach, a look that Calleigh was sure she and the two men standing beside her had mirrored.   
  
"Cal?" Maria tugged at her friend's hand. "Is everything okay?" She looked skeptical, suspicious.  
  
"Everything's fine." Calleigh said, forcing a smile and a cheerful tone. "Now that you're okay."  
  
_______________________  
  
"And...I guess that's it." Maria sighed, rubbing her forehead slightly. "The last thing I remember clearly is getting into the cab at the bar. Sorry I can't give you more than that."  
  
"You know what? It's enough." Adele assured the younger woman. "Right now, all you need to worry about is getting back on your feet, so we can put you back to work."  
  
Maria smirked. "Your concern is heartwarming. All right, I'll see you later."  
  
"Thank you, Adele." Horatio said as the Hispanic detective left the hospital. He turned his attention to Maria. "You take as much time as you need. We'll manage just fine."  
  
"I'll be back tomorrow." Maria said cheerfully. "The sooner I get back to work, the more relaxed I'll be, which will help me work better, which will help me relax...oh, fuck it, you know what I mean."  
  
Horatio looked at her blankly. "Rarely, if ever."  
  
"Okay." Maria laughed. "You can go. And take Starsky and the Mod Squad with you, all right? If one of them asks me one more time if I'm feeling okay, or if I need anything, I'm...I'm just gonna snap, okay?"  
  
"Noted." Horatio said. "Get some rest."  
  
Maria nodded as she leaned back and pulled the covers over herself, closing her eyes and taking a deep, shaky breath.  
  
Pausing in the doorway, Horatio turned around. "We will find out who did this to you, Maria."  
  
"Duh." Maria sighed, opening her eyes slightly. "God, H, chill. You know, you're not getting any younger. You gotta start lightening up or you're gonna have a stroke or something."  
  
Horatio smiled wryly. "You're definitely feeling better."  
  
____________________  
  
"Holy shit, is it really only ten-thirty?" Calleigh yawned, looking at her watch.  
  
"Just about." Horatio replied. "What time are you picking her up?"  
  
"Dr. Anders said she could go home around three." Calleigh said. "I thought she would want her dad or another family member to pick her up, but she doesn't even want to call them about this. She said it'll freak them out too much." She sighed. "Speaking of freaking out. Sooner or later, she'll find out about Natalie Mullaly, and you know she's going to take that pretty hard. Anyone have any idea how we're going to handle that?"  
  
"I think she'll be all right." Eric spoke up. "Maria's pretty tough."  
  
"I'm not so sure." Calleigh said.  
  
"What do you mean?" Tim asked. Calleigh gave him a 'not now' look, and he shrugged, casually draping his arm around her. "Hey, where's Hagen?"  
  
"He had to take off about half an hour ago." Horatio said. "He got paged."  
  
Eric scoffed. "He bailed on her. Why doesn't that surprise me?"  
  
"Will you give it a rest?" Calleigh groaned. "It's tired. We're tired. Just let it go."  
  
"Easy for you to say." Eric replied stubbornly. "I mean, come on...they look ridiculous together. He's built like a linebacker, and she just barely made the academy's height minimum."  
  
"You sure you want that to be your argument? There's a size discrepancy?" Tim asked, clearly amused. "Because if that's true, you guys didn't look any less ridiculous."  
  
"Well, anyway, I think it's insane." Eric insisted. "How can it possibly work out?"  
  
Calleigh shrugged, growing increasingly impatient. "Well for one thing, she told me she's usually on top." That was enough to shut Eric up, but Calleigh could only savor that victory for a moment before she realized that Horatio was still there.  
  
He looked at her for what seemed like an eternity before he finally spoke. "Well...now that I'm stuck with that image, I need to get back."  
  
"Don't we all?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"No, what the three of you need to do is go home and get some rest." Horatio told her. "I can't have you working on this investigation, at least not now. You're too close to it."  
  
"Horatio..." Calleigh started to protest, but gave up. He was right, and she knew that.   
  
____________________________  
  
From behind these walls  
  
I hear your song  
  
Oh, sweet words  
  
The music that you play  
  
Lights up my world  
  
Could it be that I've  
  
Been touched and turned?  
  
Oh, Lord, please  
  
Finally, finally things are changing  
  
This land is mine   
  
But I'll let you rule  
  
I'll let you navigate and demand  
  
Just as long as you know  
  
This land is mine  
  
So find your home and settle in  
  
Oh, I'm ready to let you in  
  
Just as long as we know  
  
This land is mine  
  
_______________________  
  
"So, do you want me to stay?" Tim asked as Calleigh closed the apartment door and leaned against it slightly for a moment.  
  
"Of course." She tried to smile at him as he put his arm around her and kissed her forehead, but she found it impossible. "God...I just feel so...I can't describe it. I feel so relieved, but at the same time I want to cry or scream, and I feel so guilty for being happy that Maria's safe when that poor girl's family is suffering right now."  
  
"Hey, come here." Tim drew her close, holding her against him as she let the tears of exhaustion, worry, and confusion finally fall. "It's okay, Cal." He knew she hated seeming vulnerable, but to him, it was almost a relief to see her cry. Lord knows he never wanted her to feel any kind of pain or sadness, but at the same time, he worried what might happen if she insisted on keeping those feelings bottled up.  
  
"I'm sorry." Calleigh gasped, pulling away from him and wiping her eyes.  
  
"You don't have anything to be sorry for." He insisted, cupping her face gently in his hands. "You're strong, Calleigh. You're so strong for Maria, and for all of us. You can't keep that up all the time, and you know it."  
  
Calleigh smiled finally, wiping a few more tears away. "I do. But I need you to remind me of that every so often, okay?"  
  
Tim kissed her lightly. "You got it." He mumbled against her lips before kissing her again, not nearly as lightly this time.  
  
_______________________  
  
After all the battles and wars  
  
The scars and loss  
  
I am still the queen of my domain  
  
And feeling stronger now  
  
The walls are down a little more  
  
Each day since you came  
  
Finally, finally things are changing  
  
This land is mine   
  
But I'll let you rule  
  
I'll let you navigate and demand  
  
Just as long as you know  
  
This land is mine  
  
So find your home and settle in  
  
Oh, I'm ready to let you in  
  
Just as long as we know  
  
This land is mine  
  
________________________  
  
"I thought Horatio said you weren't going to be working on this case." Hagen said.  
  
"As far as he knows I'm not." Eric replied. "And I'm guessing you're not supposed to be here, either."  
  
Hagen nodded. "Yeah. But I was going out of my fucking mind just sitting around, I figured there had to be something I could do around here."  
  
"Same." Eric admitted. "At least until H finds out we're here and suspends us."  
  
"Horatio can do whatever he wants." Hagen said. "I'm going to be here when they bring in the bastard who did that shit to Maria."  
  
"So am I." Eric said. "Hey, listen, when I told you this morning, not to go falling in love with her? I forgot to mention something else. If you ever hurt her, in any way, I'll kill you. I'm not kidding, man, I will fucking end you." He waited for a moment. "Hagen? You hear me? Hello?"  
  
"Delko." Hagen said, staring straight at the TV in front of them. He pointed at the screen, at the news program that was on.  
  
"...unconfirmed rumors that Maria Santiago, the stepdaughter of Florida Senator Yolanda Santiago, and a detective with the Miami-Dade police department, was rushed to the hospital early this morning after consuming a drink laced with GHB, a known date-rape drug." The reporter was saying. "No word yet on whether these rumors have any truth to them, or if the incident is related to the rape and murder of a young tourist who was drugged at the same bar where Maria Santiago was apparently spotted dancing with friends last night..."  
  
"Fuck." Eric spat. He took out his cell phone.  
  
______________________  
  
Calleigh sighed and lay her head on Tim's bare chest. Lazy, peaceful afternoons like this were rare. Whatever the reason was, when they found an opportunity to steal away and spend time together, they took it, no questions asked. Making love, watching a movie, or just laying in each other's arms.  
  
He kissed the top of her head and ran one hand slowly down her naked back. "Feel any better?"  
  
"Are you kidding?" She laughed, propping herself up on one elbow to look into his eyes. "You even need to ask?"  
  
Tim wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her down on top of him, catching her lips in a deep, passionate kiss. "I guess not." He said with a smirk, suddenly flipping them over so she was pinned between her bed and his body.  
  
Calleigh laughed, then moaned softly as he started kissing her neck, pulling her tightly against him.  
  
The ringing of a telephone had never sounded more ugly to her.   
  
"Ignore it." Tim said, his voice muffled against her throat.  
  
"Uh-huh." She gasped out. She reached out blindly with one hand to turn off the answering machine, but it was too late.  
  
"Calleigh, it's Eric, pick up the phone. I know you're there, this is important."  
  
Cursing under his breath, Tim reached over and grabbed the phone. "Delko, what the fuck, man?"  
  
"Speed?" Eric sounded surprised to hear him, but only for a moment. "I might have known."  
  
"What's going on? We're trying to rest, here." Tim said impatiently.  
  
"Sure, man." Eric said sarcastically. "I know what you're there for, and it's not rest. Look, let me talk to Calleigh."  
  
"All right." Tim groaned. He handed the phone to Calleigh. "He wants to talk to you."  
  
"What's going on?" Calleigh asked. She listened for a moment. "Fuck! Yeah, okay, we'll handle it." Hanging up the phone, she climbed out of the bed and practically sprinted out into the living room, not even bothering to wrap a sheet around herself.  
  
"Are the shades closed out there?" Tim asked as he followed her, pulling his boxer shorts back on as he walked. "What's going on?"  
  
"Look." Calleigh said, pointing to the TV as she grabbed a blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around herself.  
  
"Holy shit." Tim muttered after watching the news for a moment. "What are the odds that she's seeing this?"  
  
"I don't know." Calleigh admitted. "We'd better get over there, though. Just in case."  
  
_________________________  
  
TBC... 


	4. Politics As Usual

Title: Damaged Goods (4/?)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: This one's still PG-13, I *think.* Some bits may veer off into R territory, for language and violence.  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review it, or I'll send Maria to your house.  
  
Dedication: To Yana, Tina, and Jackie, cause they write some awesome fics, and make me laugh. Also to Mimi and lildreamer9, for reviewing previous parts of this fic. This one hasn't been the easiest for me to write, and the feedback really does help.  
  
Note: There's not too much of it in this part, but be warned that this is the beginning of this fic taking a more disturbing turn. Future parts will be rated R, at least.   
  
******** = beginning or end of a flashback.  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"It's all over the news." Eric announced, bursting into the morgue.  
  
Alexx looked up, not the least bit surprised to see him. "I had a feeling, as soon as Horatio told me you weren't working on this case, that I'd be seeing you today. How's Maria?"  
  
"She was asleep when we left." Eric said. "She seemed fine, but I'm guessing she's a lot less fine if she's seeing the news. They got hold of everything. The name of the bar, the hotel." As he rambled on, he stared down at the once pretty face of Natalie Mullaly. For a second, he saw Maria's face, and he stumbled back slightly.  
  
"I know, it's hard not to think about it." Alexx said, understanding.  
  
"Makes me feel like such a bastard." Eric admitted. "An innocent girl got murdered, and all I can think about is how glad I am it wasn't Maria."  
  
"There's nothing wrong with that." Alexx reassured him. "You're in love with Maria."  
  
"A lot of good that's done me." Eric groaned. "I'm miserable, while she's fooling around with Hagen. And how the hell is that going to last, anyway? The only thing they have in common is hormones. Plus he's too old for her."  
  
"You're older than her, too." Alexx pointed out.  
  
"Two years." Eric said. "He's eight years older than her. Thirty-two's pretty old." Alexx gave him a look, and he quickly amended, "Compared to twenty-four, I mean."  
  
"You know what my mother would call you, Eric?" Alexx said, shaking her head and smiling slightly. "A real pain in the ass."  
  
Eric shrugged, returning the smile. "That's what my mother calls me, too."  
  
"The next time you see Maria, try looking at her, looking into her eyes. You might be surprised by what you'll see." Alexx said cryptically.  
  
Before Eric could ask her what she meant by that, his pager went off. "It's from Horatio." He said. "I'm so busted, huh?"  
  
Alexx nodded, amused. "Looks like it."  
  
_____________________  
  
"Come on in." Horatio said before Eric spoke, not even looking up from the file on the desk in front of him.  
  
"Uh, yeah, okay." Eric said sheepishly. "Look, H, I'm sorry-"  
  
"Do I look mad?" Horatio interrupted. "I might be, if I hadn't expected this. Have a seat."  
  
Eric sat down, still nervous, although it was true, his boss didn't seem the least bit surprised or upset.   
  
"I wanted to talk to you about last night." Horatio explained. "What, exactly, was the occasion?"  
  
"There wasn't one." Eric admitted. "Other than that we felt like it."  
  
"Felt like going out and getting wasted?" Horatio asked. "That doesn't sound like any of you."  
  
"That was kinda the point." Eric admitted. He was looking down at the desk, which proved to be a mistake. His mind was immediately filled with images of Maria, stretched out on the smooth surface, writhing and moaning as he leaned over her. He shook his head a few times to clear it. This had to stop. "I guess we all just needed to unwind, to forget that, as Maria put it, 'our jobs make us reek of death.'"  
  
Horatio chuckled slightly. "That does sound like something she'd say. She has quite a way with words." He would know, having been on the receiving end of Maria's way with words more than once. 'Pompous, ignorant ego-monkey' was a favorite of hers. She always apologized after she'd had time to cool down, but he had to admit that there had been a few times when maybe she'd been right. The youngest of his CSIs had a strong personality, a short fuse, and a stubborn streak a mile wide. As small as she was, there was something about being yelled at by Maria that could make a man go to great lengths to avoid having it happen again.  
  
"I didn't even want to go." Eric continued. "But they talked me into it, and it's a good thing they did, too. If I'd held out, or if we hadn't gone at all...God, H, I can't stop thinking about what would have happened to her if we hadn't shown up when we did."  
  
"I know." Horatio said sympathetically. The thought had crossed his mind more than once. "But you understand that's why you need to sit this one out, don't you? Why all of us do? I'm not overseeing the investigation, I've handed it off to Lieutenant Walsh. Alexx isn't doing the post, she's just supervising. We all care about her, Eric. So we can't be anywhere near this."  
  
"I know." Eric said. "I know that, but it just makes me crazy, just sitting around, doing nothing while this guy is out there."  
  
"I understand that." Horatio told him. "Why don't you go see Maria? If she's seen the news, she's going to have a lot of questions."  
  
Eric shook his head. "I doubt she'd want me to answer them."  
  
"All right, I'll put it another way. Go see her, before I have to dock your pay for disobeying a direct order." Horatio said, smirking.  
  
"I don't have to go home, but I can't stay here, huh?" Eric chuckled. "All right, I'm gone."  
  
_______________________  
  
"I.Ds, please." Calleigh and Tim were stunned to see a security guard posted outside the closed door to Maria's room. They could hear slightly raised voices coming from inside.   
  
"I'm Calleigh Duquesne, this is Tim Speedle. We work with Maria Santiago, and I'm her roommate." Calleigh explained. "Has something happened?"  
  
Ignoring her question, the guard tapped on the door and opened it a crack. "Senator, I'm sorry to interrupt, but the roommate's here."  
  
The door was pushed open more, and a middle-aged woman peered out. She was maturely attractive, but her eyes held a certain sorrow, the kind that came from years of worry. "Calleigh. It's so good to see you again."  
  
"You too, Senator." Calleigh replied. "This is Tim Speedle. Tim, this is Maria's stepmom, Senator Yolanda Santiago."  
  
"It's an honor to meet you, Senator." Tim said politely.  
  
"Tim. I've heard quite a bit about you from both of these young ladies." Yolanda said, stepping aside and opening the door fully. "Please, come in."  
  
"Hey guys." Maria said brightly, sitting up slightly as her friends entered the room. She looked less pale, but still not her old self.   
  
"Calleigh, perhaps you can help us settle this." Yolanda began. "Do you think it's fair that I had to hear on the news that my own daughter was almost raped and murdered?"  
  
"Okay, first of all." Maria said. "I'm your stepdaughter. Second, if it hadn't been leaked to the press, you wouldn't have found out at all, because I knew you would freak out like this."  
  
"First of all, I adopted you and your brother and sister when I married your father." Yolanda retorted. "And I raised you, so as far as I'm concerned, you are my daughter. And second, you should know by now that nothing that happens to our family stays secret for long. That's a fact of our lives, Maria, whether we like it or not."  
  
"Yeah, well I never chose it." Maria huffed, folding her arms over her chest.  
  
"Don't be like that." Yolanda pleaded. "I just want to know how this could have happened. You're always so careful, you never let your guard down. How could someone have gotten close enough to do this to you?"  
  
"I already told you, I don't know." Maria sighed.   
  
"What were you wearing?" Yolanda asked.  
  
"Oh, God, Yolanda!" Maria snapped. "What kind of question is that? Especially coming from a woman who sustained a twenty-five hour filibuster to prevent voting on a bullshit crime bill, arguing, among other things, that if a woman's provocative clothing was justification for rape, then little old ladies in their homes and twelve-year-old alter boys would never be assaulted?" She shook her head. "Besides, 'what were you wearing?' Such a typical mom thing to say!"  
  
"Fine, you should show off your goods more." Yolanda said, smirking. "How's that for a typical mom thing to say?"  
  
"Creepy." Maria replied, wrinkling her nose.  
  
"You're not even my mother, and I'm a little creeped out." Calleigh spoke up, reminding the two Hispanic women that she and Tim were still in the room.  
  
Both of them looked somewhat sheepish. "Everything okay?" Maria asked. "I know I wasn't able to give much of a statement, but..."  
  
"No, everything's fine." Tim said. "We just saw that this was all over the news, and we figured we'd better get over here, make sure you were all right."  
  
Maria laughed hoarsely at that. "God, see what I mean, Yolanda? They hover over me even more than you do! I'm fine, you guys, really."  
  
Calleigh and Yolanda exchanged looks, but there was a knock on the door before either of them could say anything.  
  
"Sorry to intrude." Dr. Anders said cheerfully, opening the door. "Maria, I'm going to need to check your heart rate and breath sounds before you can be discharged, and go over your at-home care with you."  
  
"That's fine." Maria replied. "Do you need the peanut gallery over here to wait outside?"  
  
Dr. Anders nodded. "That would be best. If you don't mind, that is."  
  
"Not at all." Yolanda said. "And I just wanted to thank you, Doctor, on behalf of my husband and myself, for everything you've done for our Maria."  
  
"You're very welcome, Senator." Dr. Anders told her. "And thank you for voting against that last health care bill. I don't think I need to tell you what that would have done to our hospital."  
  
"Of course." Yolanda replied. She nodded to Calleigh and Tim, who followed her out of the room to a row of chairs in the corridor. Sinking into one, Yolanda sighed. "Calleigh, Anton told you...everything...didn't he?"  
  
"Yes, he did." Calleigh confirmed, sitting down next to her. "I know all of it. Tim doesn't, though."  
  
"It's so horrible." Yolanda sighed, closing her eyes. In just those few moments, she seemed to age ten years.  
  
"I know." Calleigh said sadly. "I literally got sick to my stomach when Anton told me. I mean, my father wasn't exactly a saint to me, and he was even worse to my mother, but there were some lines he would never, ever have crossed."  
  
"I'm worried about her." Yolanda's voice broke slightly as she spoke. "She puts on such a brave face, she always has, ever since she was a little girl. But she's devastated, I can see it when I look at her. I'm afraid that this is going to bring it all to the surface."  
  
"That may be for the best." Calleigh pointed out. "If she can deal with everything that happened, maybe she can move past it."  
  
"I hope so." Yolanda sighed. "Thank you for being there for her."  
  
Calleigh nodded. "Of course."  
  
"You can all come back in now." Dr. Anders announced, opening the door. "Maria's in the bathroom, changing to go home. I just have some paperwork to take care of, and then she's free and clear."  
  
"Okay, thank you, Doctor." Calleigh said, as cheerfully as she could manage.  
  
"You're welcome."  
  
The bathroom door opened and Maria stepped out, in flared dark jeans and a red t-shirt. "Hey. We all set?"  
  
"Just about." Calleigh replied. "Dr. Anders is just taking care of a few more things, and then we're out of here."  
  
The door to the room opened slightly again. "Senator, we've got another one of Maria's friends out here. Name's Delko."  
  
"Have him come in." Maria replied. She smiled when she saw Eric. "Hey. Eric, this is my stepmom, Yolanda Santiago. Yolanda, this is Eric Delko. He works with us at CSI."  
  
"Nice to meet you, Senator." Eric said, once again unsure of quite how to act around a member of Maria's family.  
  
"It's a pleasure, Eric." Yolanda said, shaking Eric's hand. She looked at him for a moment, then at Tim, and then winked at her stepdaughter. "Maria, you didn't tell me you worked with such handsome boys as these two."  
  
"Yolanda!" Maria gasped, burying her face in her hands. "Why do you always have to act like this in front of my friends?"   
  
"Because I'm your mother, dear." Yolanda replied casually. She looked at Eric again. "Besides...a friend? I don't buy it."  
  
"Yolanda! God!" Maria shrieked. "That's enough!"  
  
"All right, all right, I'm leaving." Yolanda sighed. She hugged Maria tightly. "Call me tonight, okay? Your father will want to hear from you, too. We love you, Maria."  
  
"I will." Maria promised. "I love you guys, too." As soon as her stepmother was gone, she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sorry about her, you guys. Parents, stepparents, they're all the same. A real pain in the ass." She saw that Eric and Tim were smirking at her. "What?"  
  
"She thinks we're handsome." Eric teased. "She's a smart woman."  
  
"Yeah, smart enough to know that you nailed me." Maria shot back. "I hope for your sake you never have to meet my dad, because he's just as 'smart' as she is. Come on, let's get the fuck outta here already."  
  
__________________  
  
"I call shotgun!" Eric announced loudly as they approached Calleigh's car in the parking garage.   
  
"Oh my God, are you ten?" Maria groaned. "Besides, no way, I call it. I'm the patient here, which means I get first dibs."  
  
"Kids, don't make me separate you two!" Tim chided them sarcastically.   
  
"Eric, what about your car?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"I walked here." Eric shrugged. "It's only about five minutes from the lab."  
  
"Okay, fine." Calleigh said. "But it's my car, and Maria has been throwing her cookies all morning, so she gets the front seat. You boys are in the back."  
  
_________________________  
  
"Ow! Damn it, Speed, cut it out!" Eric shouted, doing a dead-on impression of a little kid on a long road trip. "Calleigh, he keeps putting his foot on my side of the car!"  
  
Calleigh rolled her eyes. The two men had been bickering like children since the car had left the hospital grounds to amuse Maria, and it had been working, but it was starting to get old. "All right, that's enough, it's only cute and funny for a few minutes." The other three in the car looked at her, and she sighed. "Fine, I mean, damn it, you two! Knock it off, or so help me, I will turn this car right around!"  
  
Maria giggled. "You guys are all insane, you know that? And I would know insane, too."  
  
"Yeah, from an insider's perspective." Eric teased, leaning forward and poking the back of her neck lightly, causing her to squeal and shrink down in her seat.  
  
"Stop it!" She shrieked, turning around and slapping at his hand.  
  
"Guys, seriously, quit it." Calleigh told them. "Traffic's getting pretty heavy, I gotta concentrate on the road." Even as she spoke, an SUV barreled past them, veering into their lane. Yelping in surprise and anger, Calleigh swerved to one side to avoid being sideswiped, catching Maria off guard and causing her to smack the side of her head against the window. "Shit! Maria, are you okay?"  
  
"Yeah." Maria said, rubbing the side of her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. You guys okay?"  
  
"We're good." Tim replied.  
  
"Okay." Maria sighed, leaning back against her headrest and closing her eyes as the traffic started to move again.  
  
****************************  
  
She had kept quiet for the past ten hours, since they had left the small town in Alabama that he had insisted they had to go to, dropping everything and driving for two days, for a reason he didn't tell her.  
  
Standing in the small, poorly lit bedroom, watching him throw a few random pieces of clothes from her drawers and his own into a small duffel bag, she had desperately wanted to ask him why it was so important that they go, and go now. She had a feeling that she knew the reason already. Someone had 'something' for him. Something on which he would spend his entire paycheck, and probably the money from her parents that was supposed to pay for her physical therapy, which he had decided she didn't need any more. But they still needed the money, so when they saw her parents, he made her stay seated, or move very slowly and deliberately if she did get up. She never questioned him, and that moment, as desperately as she had wanted to ask, had been no exception.  
  
Besides, his gun had been on the bedside table, just a foot away from him, well within his reach. A belt was slung carelessly over the doorknob. He was wearing those goddamn steel-toed work boots. She didn't dare open her mouth.  
  
Ten hours into the drive, however, she was cold, hungry, and exhausted. The road was more dark and deserted than she remembered, and she wasn't sure his car, the same piece of shit he'd had when they were in high school, was going to make it much further.   
  
"Are you..." She began hesitantly. "Are you sure we're not lost?"   
  
Her head hit the window as he slammed on the breaks and pulled over to the side of the road. Just as she recovered, she felt the impact of her head striking the glass again before she even realized the back of his hand had hit her across the face. She felt a stinging pain and tasted blood where the cheap, ten carat gold band on his left hand had caught her lip.  
  
"Shut the fuck up!" He screamed at her, grabbing her by her hair and pinning her head and neck against the window. He slapped her, harder this time. "You wanna fucking question me?!"   
  
He lunged at her then, pinning her upper body against the door, still holding her hair in a painfully tight grip. As he forced his body against hers, rendering her completely helpless, he hit her in the face a few more times.  
  
Squeezing her eyes shut, she winced in pained. She didn't know at the time that the pain he was about to cause her would be so much worse.  
  
*****************************  
  
"Maria? Hey! We're home." Calleigh's voice jolted her back into the present. Her roommate was leaning over from her side of the car, a concerned look on her face. "You okay?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I'm fine." Maria said quickly. "I'm just feeling a little out of it. I'm kinda hungry."  
  
"Well, that's a good sign." Calleigh said. She got out of the car and made her way over to the passenger door. Opening it, she gently took Maria by the arm and helped her out of the car. "Tim's gonna give Eric a ride home. Why don't we go inside and get you some lunch?"  
  
Maria blinked a few times and shook her head to clear it. "Yeah." She said softly. "Okay."   
  
_________________________  
  
TBC... 


	5. The Perfect Distraction

Title: Damaged Goods (5/?)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: R, for language and abuse, including non-graphic rape. If this material offends or upsets you, do not read the flashback sequence.  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review it, or I'll send Maria to your house.  
  
Dedication: To everyone who's read and reviewed this fic so far. It's sort of personal, which makes it kinda hard to write at times. The feedback really does help, so please keep it coming.  
  
Soundtrack: "Stoned" by Dido.  
  
********* = beginning or end of a flashback.  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"Feel any better?" Calleigh asked, sitting down in the armchair next to the couch.  
  
"Tons." Maria sighed. "There's no problem in the world that can't be solved by leftover Thai takeout and a Vanilla Coke."  
  
Calleigh shrugged. "I don't know, somehow I doubt that combination would do any good for someone with a halitosis problem."  
  
Maria laughed. "Okay, point."  
  
"Do you want to talk about what happened?" Calleigh asked bluntly.  
  
"Nah...no, I'm okay." Maria sighed after a moment. "I'm lucky." She looked up and smiled. "What I would like to talk about, however, is just how much you remember about last night. And what could happen to you if you share those memories with the wrong people."  
  
Calleigh knew what she was referring to, and she was willing to allow the change of subject. For a while, at least. "Don't worry, your indiscretion is safe with me. Even though, I have to check, but I think that by telling us, Eric made me, Tim, and John accessories to what has to be at least a misdemeanor."  
  
"Well, serves H right, he should know by now not to piss me off. I can be extremely passive-aggressive." Maria said.  
  
"Gee, I hadn't noticed." Calleigh quipped.   
  
"Watch it." Maria warned playfully. "You know, I gotta admit, every time I see H sitting in that chair, I feel a little guilty...for about five seconds, and then I just go somewhere out of his sight and just laugh my ass off."  
  
"You are depraved." Calleigh laughed.  
  
Maria shrugged. "Well, Cal, if you don't like the idea of sitting in a chair that Eric and I fucked in, you might wanna move."  
  
"Maria! Jesus!" Calleigh practically shrieked, jumping to her feet as if she'd sat on a pin.  
  
"What's the big deal?" Maria asked. "We wiped the cushion off and flipped it over when we were finished."  
  
"Oh my God." Calleigh groaned.   
  
"Do I want to know?" Tim's question cut off any response from Maria.  
  
"Trust me." Calleigh said. "You really, really don't."  
  
Tim shrugged. "All right. How's the patient?"  
  
"She's fine, thanks." Maria replied. "Hey, didn't you guys have a reservation at Le Mistral tonight?"  
  
"We can reschedule it." Tim said.  
  
"Yeah, we're just going to stay in tonight." Calleigh added.  
  
"Like hell you are." Maria shot back. "First of all, you dropped my name to get that reservation, which is fine, but if you cancel, that doesn't exactly reflect well on me. And besides, you guys have been running yourselves ragged on my account all day, you more than deserve a night out."  
  
"Are you sure?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Not only am I sure." Maria replied. "But if you guys hang around here longer than it takes for you to pick out something nice from my closet, since we both know that's where you're heading, I will kick both your asses, and don't think I can't."  
  
Calleigh thought for a minute. "Can I borrow those black, strappy Jimmy Choos with the red flowers, too?"  
  
"Just go!" Maria sighed, rolling her eyes and laughing.  
  
________________________  
  
Hours later, the apartment was silent. Calleigh and Tim had finally left, barely in time to make it to the restaurant.  
  
There was absolutely nothing on TV, at least nothing that could hold Maria's attention for very long. She finally gave up and turned off the TV, leaning back and closing her eyes.  
  
***********************************  
  
She was curled into the fetal position on one side of the ratty, sunken couch. He had slurred at her as he'd left that morning, she'd better have dinner ready when he got home at seven, or else. He hadn't actually said 'or else,' but what he had said had implied it enough.  
  
It was almost ten now. A part of her wondered if he was never coming back, if he'd just started driving in another direction, leaving her far behind. Or if he was maybe even lying in a ditch somewhere, OD'd, shot in the head, beaten to a pulp.  
  
A small part of her even hoped for that. But no, she couldn't think that way about him. He was her husband. She loved him, she had to. He took care of her. He loved her. No one else ever would.  
  
It had been two days since they had returned from Alabama. She could still hear the sound of him buckling his belt as he pushed himself off of her and returned to the driver's seat, leaving her slumped against the passenger door, too shocked to speak or to move, even to cry, despite the lingering pain he had caused her. The rest of the ride had been silent. When they pulled into the parking lot outside the small apartment building, he had gotten out of the car, slamming the door, leaving her in darkness. She'd sat there for what had to be at least an hour before she forced herself to stand up, ignoring the searing pain, and followed him inside.  
  
He'd barely spoken to her in those two days, and he hadn't touched her, except to slap her out of his way in the kitchen that morning. She'd been more than happy to move, she'd been deliberately avoiding getting too close to him. Her entire body was still sore.  
  
She'd been walking around in a fog since it had happened. It made no sense. He had always been a little rough with her. She'd shrugged it off easily. That was just his way, he was intense and passionate. But this had gone beyond anything she was used to. There had no warning. Just his rough hand, the one that wasn't slamming her head against the window, pulling her frayed denim cutoffs down to her knees, then tearing her thin, worn cotton underwear right off of her.  
  
Then the pain. Searing, ripping pain.   
  
He'd kept his hand over her mouth or around her throat the entire time, growling foul insults and threats in her ear.   
  
Then he'd just pushed off of her, started the car, and started driving again as if nothing had happened.  
  
Maybe nothing had happened. Maybe she was imagining the entire incident, or at least remembering it much worse than it had been. He wasn't a rapist. He was her husband. Husbands did not rape their wives. They took care of them, no matter how much of a burden that was.  
  
The front door slammed open, the sound reverberating through her, and she shuddered.   
  
He didn't acknowledge her, just stomped into the kitchen. Warily, she stood up and followed him.  
  
"I...I had dinner ready at seven, just like you said." She ventured timidly.   
  
"You want a fucking medal or something?" He snapped. He picked up a plate off the table, then threw it to the floor. "It's cold!"  
  
"I'm sorry, I'll warm it up for you." She said quickly.  
  
"Don't bother!" He shouted. As she bent down to clean up the broken plate, he kicked her in the ribs, and she landed hard on her back on the floor. "I'll just fucking starve, because you're too fucking stupid to do anything right!"  
  
Squeezing her eyes shut, she winced as she heard the sound of his belt buckle. The slap of the cold leather against her cheek followed, then across her neck and chest, then across her face again. Then she felt his weight on top of her, pressing her into the floor. Then the unmistakable sound of his zipper. She whimpered softly, and he slapped her again, yanking her shorts down, taking her underwear with them.  
  
"Don't." She sobbed. "Adam, baby, please don't. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry..."  
  
"Shut up." He ordered.  
  
His hand covered her mouth completely as the dull ache flared into full-fledged unbearable pain once again.  
  
Fighting to breathe, she tried to imagine herself leaving her body, floating away from the pain, from the cold, hard linoleum under her back and the horrible grunting sounds he was making. It was the same way she had coped after the accident, when the pain was too much for her to bear. He had been there. He had promised to take care of her, to protect her.   
  
It hadn't quite worked out that way.  
  
*********************************  
  
The knock on the door that woke her up was an act of mercy. Untangling herself from the thin blanket that had become wrapped around her, Maria got up from the couch and went into the front hallway.  
  
"Who is it?" She called. Without waiting for an answer, she opened the door slightly, and smiled when she saw who was outside. The perfect distraction. "Hey, just a second." She unhooked the chain latch and opened the door fully. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I wanted to see how you're doing." John replied. "And see if you were feeling up to a movie night. I brought some Monty Python tapes."  
  
"Get in here." Maria smirked, grabbing him by the front of his shirt and pulling him into the apartment. She shut the door and locked it again. "You know I love Flying Circus, but I'm not in a movie kind of mood tonight." She stepped a little closer to him. "I really like that shirt on you."  
  
John shrugged. "It's a gray t-shirt, Maria."  
  
"Yeah, I know." She said. "But it looks good on you." She took another step towards him. "Of course, it looks better crumpled up on my bedroom floor."  
  
With that, she slid her arms around him and leaned up for a kiss, which he returned for a moment before pulling back. "Maybe that's not such a good idea."  
  
"You have got to be kidding me." Maria groaned.   
  
"You just got out of the hospital." He reminded her.  
  
"Hours ago!" She sighed. "Besides, I got micked. It's not like I have some kind of debilitating injury or wasting disease or something."   
  
"Are you sure you're up to this?" Even as he spoke, his hands were slowly sliding around her waist. She had him right where she wanted him, and she knew it.  
  
"I think the question is whether or not you're 'up to it.'" She teased. She kissed him again, pressing her body hard against his, then pulling back and smirking. "And I think I just got the answer to that question." She arched into him, causing him to groan and tighten his hold on her waist.  
  
"That's cheating."  
  
"Playing fair is overrated." She purred as he began trailing kisses across her collarbone. Already, the nightmare she had awoken from only minutes earlier had been pushed to a far corner of her mind. She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her bedroom. "I can't believe you tried to resist. You're gonna have to pay for that."  
  
____________________  
  
"Are you cold?" Tim asked, drawing Calleigh closer to him. They had decided to take a walk on the beach after leaving the restaurant, and the breeze off the ocean gave the air a slight chill.  
  
"No, I'm fine." Calleigh sighed, leaning against him. More than anything, she wanted to spend just a little while in his arms, before they had to go home, before they had to go back to work, before they had to go back to the real world. "I'm just tired. It's been an absolutely insane day. But it's over now."  
  
"Not exactly." Tim said, kissing the top of her head. "I'm worried about her, too. She's barely even reacted to finding out she was the killer's first target."  
  
"You know how Maria can be." Calleigh said, frowning. "She likes to be in control. Something like this...she can't handle it. So, she pushes it away, she doesn't even like to acknowledge that it's happening."  
  
"It has to do with her ex-husband, right?" Tim asked. "I mean, that's what you and Yolanda were talking about earlier, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah." Calleigh admitted, looking at the ground. "I can't...I can't get into the details. But...God, Tim, what he did to her...it's so hideous, to think that anyone could treat another human being that way. I can't say I really blame her for blocking it out and forcing herself to forget it."  
  
"I don't need to know anymore." Tim said, disgusted. "I think I can figure it out. I'm guessing Delko doesn't know, since if he did, he probably would have tried to track the bastard down already. Hell, even I'm thinking that might not be such a bad idea."  
  
"I know." Calleigh agreed. "I thought the same thing when Anton told me. "  
  
"I feel like a jackass." Tim confessed. "I was angry with her when she and Eric split up, I always just thought she was using him for sex. I had no idea what kind of shit she'd gone through."  
  
Calleigh put her arms loosely around his neck. "You had no way of knowing. You were being protective of a friend. I'm the same way about Maria, that's why I'm so worried."  
  
Tim kissed her lightly. "She's lucky to have you. Look, do you want to stay at your place tonight? In case she needs you?"  
  
"Are you sure you don't mind?" Calleigh asked, feeling a little guilty.  
  
"Mind? Your apartment's a lot nicer than mine." Tim reminded her. She smiled and he nodded his approval. "That's more like it. Come on."  
  
________________________  
  
When you're stoned, baby  
  
And I am drunk  
  
And we make love  
  
It seems a little desolate  
  
It's hard sometimes not to look away  
  
And think what's the point  
  
When I'm having to hold this fire down  
  
I think I'll explode  
  
If I can't feel this freely now  
  
If you won't let me fall for you  
  
Then you won't let me see the best  
  
That I would love to do for you  
  
Instead you will be missing me when I go  
  
Cause I'm bored of hanging out in your cold  
  
____________________________  
  
Despite the good-natured cracks he endured willingly from his friends and coworkers, John Hagen was no fool.  
  
He'd be the first to admit that he could be oblivious at times, and sometimes even downright clueless, but he was smart enough to know when he was being used.  
  
Not that he hadn't brought it on himself. He'd been attracted to Maria from the first day she'd worked at CSI. Petite but beautifully sculpted, with long legs, full, round breasts and a knockout smile, she'd had him wrapped around her finger before she'd even introduced herself.  
  
They had flirted a little that first day, but Eric Delko had already gotten her attention, and it was obvious that she had gotten his. When she'd left with him that night, and come in the next day with a satisfied, smug smile on her face, John had known that he'd missed his chance, at least for the time being.  
  
Of course, he hadn't backed off. He'd found excuses to talk to her, even when they weren't working on the same case. He'd waited for the right time to make a move.  
  
But when the time came, two weeks after her 'non-relationship' with Delko had derailed, she was the one who came to him. She had approached him in the breakroom, invited him out for a drink. He'd been surprised, given that she'd spent the last two weeks rejecting him, but no less willing.  
  
Somewhere, in between drinking, dancing, and flirting, she'd leaned in and whispered suggestively that Calleigh would be at Speedle's place that night, leaving Maria with their apartment to herself.  
  
They'd barely made it through the door before she was all over him, undressing him as he fumbled clumsily with the buttons on her blouse and the clasp on her bra.  
  
"How drunk are you?" He'd asked as she pushed him down onto her bed.  
  
"Drunk enough to want to do this." She'd panted as she straddled him. "Not so drunk that you should be worried about taking advantage."  
  
"That's the perfect amount of drunk." He'd barely managed to get the words out before she leaned down and kissed him, and there hadn't been much to say after that.  
  
The next morning, when she had told him that she wasn't interested in a relationship, he'd been happy to agree. He'd just ignored the voice in the back of his mind that told him it was a mistake, that he would only make things worse for her, and she would probably do the same thing to him.  
  
They'd been carrying on like that for a week. He loved how passionate and aggressive she was in bed. What bothered him was that she was equally closed off emotionally. One night, he had made the mistake of asking her about a jagged scar, partially covered by a tattoo, on her left hip. She'd blown off the question, and made some excuse about not feeling well and needing to get some sleep. That had bothered him, but only because it made him wonder even more about the secrets she kept, not because he was falling for her. He cared about her on some level, that much was true. But losing his heart to her was out of the question.  
  
Because he had already lost his heart, to someone far more unattainable.  
  
That was why he couldn't blame Maria for using him to distract herself from Delko. He was doing the same thing to her, to distract himself from another woman.   
  
Earlier that night, as Maria's straight, soft golden hair had brushed across his bare chest, he'd pictured those long, coal black curls doing the same thing. As Maria's tongue had traced the scar on his chest, that small, perfect circle where a bullet had lodged between two of his ribs, he'd remembered waking up in the hospital, those deep brown eyes being the first thing he'd seen clearly.   
  
Neither one of them wanted to believe that Ray had been the one who had fired that bullet. The shoot-out had been so chaotic, there was no easy way of determining, even though the bullet had been from Ray's weapon, that he had been the one holding the gun at that moment, pulling the trigger. Sure, the CSIs had probably figured out more or less conclusively who it had been, but he didn't want to know. For her sake, and for his own, he wanted to believe that it hadn't been his partner, his friend, who had shot him, or if it had, that it had at least been an accident.  
  
He didn't want to believe, and neither did she, that Ray could have been 'dirty,' as was the rumor that still made its way around the department. Didn't want to believe that they had missed the signs, or worse, seen the signs, and been in denial.  
  
He honestly couldn't say when he'd realized he was in love with her. But he'd been trying to distance himself from her for some time. She was his friend's widow, it didn't seem right. And although she didn't blame him for Ray's death, he wasn't sure her son would feel the same way, as he got older. And sometimes, although he couldn't say why, he got a feeling that Horatio blamed him for his brother's death, or at least for not doing more to prevent it. Or maybe that was just his own guilt, his own feeling that there had to have been something, anything he could have done.  
  
Maria was a perfect distraction from all of it, at least temporarily. But there was something that kept her apart from him, even when physically, they couldn't have been any closer. Tonight, especially, she had been beyond aggressive, almost frantic, as if there was something she was actively trying to block out. He'd seen it as soon as she'd opened the door, her face had been flushed, and she had been breathing heavily, almost as if something had frightened her, badly, just before he'd arrived.  
  
He knew that she would never tell him about it, and that was fine with him. But he also knew there was something that she needed to get off her chest, something she kept hidden. But even if he had wanted to, he knew there was no way he would ever get any further with her than he already had. And maybe they would both be better off if they just stopped trying to distract themselves so much.  
  
It was kind of a shame, he admitted to himself as he got out of the bed and quietly got dressed, not wanting to wake her up. Under different circumstances, they could have been good together.  
  
But there was no point in wasting time wondering how things could be different. He'd accepted that fact a long time ago.  
  
______________________________  
  
If you won't let me fall for you  
  
Then you won't let me see the best  
  
That I would love to do for you  
  
Instead you will be missing me when I go  
  
Cause I'm bored of hanging out in your cold  
  
_______________________________  
  
TBC... 


	6. Nothing But The Truth

Title: Damaged Goods (6/7)  
  
Disclaimer: (To the tune of "You Don't Own Me," by Leslie Gore) I don't own it, I'm not trying to claim it in any way. I don't own it, don't hunt me down cause I'll never pay!  
  
Rating: I'm gonna go ahead and rate this one an R, for language and some violent, possibly slightly disturbing content.  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review it, or I'll send Maria to your house.  
  
Dedication: Once again, to everyone who reviewed the last part, which was particularly hard to write.  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"Women." Eric muttered into his beer. "Know what I mean, Henry?"  
  
"In the interest of saving time, sure I do." The bartender replied. "Hey, you guys any closer to catching the bastard who drugged Maria and that British girl? I just can't believe it. I got a daughter who's gonna be wanting to go out to parties in a few years. Just makes me sick, thinking about someone doing that shit to girls in my bar."  
  
"Hey, don't beat yourself up, it can happen anywhere." Eric slurred. "I don't even know about the case, none of us are working on it. Boss man thinks we're 'too close.' I don't wanna talk about it, okay? I mean, it's like the Twilight Zone or something. All you ever hear from women is bitching and whining about men who just want sex, and run at the first sign of emotion, and then they go and do the same shit!" He noticed a woman at the bar staring at him. "You know what I'm talking about, don't give me that look. Why can't any of you just make up your minds?"  
  
"Uh...we're sorry?" The woman said, rolling her eyes as she walked away.  
  
"Okay, man, that's enough." Henry said. "You really have a way with the ladies, you know that?"  
  
"I'm not bitter or anything." Eric mumbled.   
  
"No, you're just really wasted." Henry replied. "I'll call you a cab."  
  
"Forget it." Eric said, throwing a few crumbled bills on the bar. "I'll walk, I gotta clear my head."  
  
_____________________________  
  
"Calleigh, shh." Tim whispered as Calleigh pulled him into the apartment, laughing softly as they kissed. "You wouldn't want to wake up your roommate, would you?"  
  
"And here I thought we came back just in case she needed anything." Calleigh teased, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Well, yeah, but if she doesn't need anything, and we wake her up, then she's an audience that we don't need." Tim replied, catching her lips again.  
  
"Good point." Calleigh gasped out between kisses. As his mouth traveled down her throat, sucking gently, she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. "Tim..." He didn't respond. "Tim!" She said, more insistently. He still didn't get the point, so she tried another approach. "John!"  
  
That got Tim's attention. "What the hell?" He looked where Calleigh was pointing, rolling her eyes at him. "Oh. Hagen. Nice to see you." He greeted the other man, in a tone that clearly indicated to him that he was intruding.  
  
"Don't let me interrupt." Hagen said casually, walking past the couple. "I was just leaving, anyway. Just try to keep it down, Maria needs to get some sleep."  
  
"A little self-assured, are we?" Calleigh joked.  
  
"For fuck's sake, Calleigh, that's not what I meant." Hagen shot back, barely turning around. "Get your mind out of the gutter." The door closed behind him.  
  
"Whoa." Calleigh said. "What's his problem?"  
  
"Maybe they had a fight?" Tim suggested.  
  
Calleigh nodded slightly. "Yeah, maybe..." She crept to Maria's bedroom door and pushed it open slightly. In the dim light, she saw the younger woman in her bed, her naked body covered by the crimson sheet. She was sleeping peacefully, a content expression on her face. "Well, whatever's got John in such a foul mood, it doesn't seem to be bothering her."  
  
"Then it's probably none of our business." Tim pointed out, sliding one arm around her waist and kissing the side of her neck.  
  
"You really do have a one track mind." Calleigh sighed. She moaned softly as his lips touched a sensitive spot. "Not that I'm complaining."  
  
_______________________  
  
He wasn't quite sure how he'd arrived at his present location. He'd left the bar with every intention of going straight home.   
  
It seemed, however, that he just wasn't calling the shots anymore.  
  
He debated for a few minutes whether or not he should hit the buzzer, not sure if either of them would still be awake, or if they would even be at home. What would he say? What logical explanation could there possibly be for him showing up, falling-down drunk outside their apartment at one in the morning?  
  
Hell, since when did logic have any place in his life?  
  
"Eric? Hey!" A slightly familiar voice interrupted his mental rambling.  
  
"Hi Lisa." He greeted the young woman who lived in the apartment directly above Calleigh and Maria's. "How's it going?"  
  
"Not bad. Just got back from a month in New York, visiting my cousins." Lisa replied cheerfully. "You need to get in?"  
  
"Uh, yeah, sure." Eric said. "Thanks."  
  
"Yeah, no problem." Lisa said cheerfully. "Tell Maria and Calleigh I said hi."  
  
____________________________  
  
"Oh my God, what now?" Calleigh groaned.   
  
"Ignore it, maybe whoever it is will go away." Tim mumbled against her lips, slowly pulling down the zipper on her dress and slipping his hand under the black fabric.   
  
The knocking at the front door continued, and increased in intensity.  
  
"Or, maybe just get louder." Tim said, frustrated.   
  
"I'll go see who it is." Calleigh sighed, zipping the dress back up and walking out into the front hallway. "Who is it?"  
  
"It's a drunken, knife-wielding maniac."   
  
"Eric?" Calleigh said.  
  
"Okay, so it's one out of three." Eric replied.   
  
"I would say two out of three." Calleigh rolled her eyes as she opened the door. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"I was in the neighborhood." Eric shrugged. "Can I come in?"  
  
Calleigh nodded and stepped aside. "Can't have you wandering the streets. God, you really are wasted."  
  
"I've had a few." Eric admitted.  
  
"Dozen?" Tim asked from the bedroom doorway.   
  
"Very funny. Where's Maria?" Eric asked.  
  
"Asleep, and she needs to stay that way, so keep it down." Calleigh replied. She pushed him into the armchair. "Sit. Stay. I'll make you some coffee, but then you're out of here."  
  
"All right, fine." Eric leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes.  
  
Tim sat down on the couch. "You know, all I wanted was to spend some quality time alone with the woman I love, without being interrupted every five minutes by a guy who's completely fucked in the head from sleeping with her roommate."  
  
"Huh?" Eric opened his eyes. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. I was just remember the time Maria and I screwed in this chair. God, that was absolutely mind-blowing."  
  
"You're a fucking sex addict." Tim said, shaking his head.  
  
"Nah, I'm a Maria addict." Eric chuckled. "And that's a lot worse. I'm addicted to sex I can't have." His voice got louder as he continued. "Sex I could have, if I could just have kept my goddamn mouth shut."  
  
"Hey, lower your voice." Tim told him.   
  
Too late.  
  
"Who is being loud?" Maria groaned, appearing in her bedroom doorway, wrapped in a crimson sheet.  
  
"Uh, he is." Eric said, pointing at Tim.  
  
"Oh my God!" Calleigh sighed as she came back into the room with a cup of coffee in her hand. "I told you to keep it down. Sorry, Maria. He just showed up."  
  
"Don't worry about it." Maria replied. "I'm awake, might as well be amused."  
  
"I'm not getting laid tonight, am I?" Tim groaned.   
  
"No one here is." Calleigh agreed, handing the coffee to Eric. "Well, aside from Maria."  
  
"Yeah, I got mine." Maria smirked, then disappeared into her room, returning a minute later in a tank top and cotton pajama pants. "Well, since we're all here, you guys want to watch a video? John brought over some Monty Python tapes."  
  
"Might as well." Calleigh said. She picked a video from the pile on the coffee table and put it in the VCR.  
  
"Scoot over." Maria said to Eric. "Might as well let them have the couch."  
  
Eric shrugged and moved over, leaving just enough space for Maria to sit beside him in the chair.  
  
As Maria sat down, however, she discovered that there wasn't enough room for her to sit comfortably without her body brushing against his. She shivered slightly, remembering the last time that they had been in this chair together. Could it really have been only a month ago? She glanced at Eric, trying to see if he was at all affected by their closeness, or their location. He seemed too hammered to be affected by much of anything.  
  
___________________________  
  
"Try unplugging it and then plugging it back in." Eric suggested.  
  
"I already did." Maria sighed, pushing a few random buttons on the VCR.   
  
"Maybe it's the tape?" Eric said, leaning over beside her.  
  
"It's not the tape, it's the VCR." Maria replied sharply. "Look, just sit down and let me fix this, okay?"  
  
Eric shrugged. "I want to help."  
  
"Well, I don't need your help." Maria snapped.  
  
"Or maybe you do, and you're too fucking stubborn to admit it." Eric shot back.   
  
"Yeah, that's it." Maria said sarcastically. "I'm completely helpless, can't even fix a goddamn VCR without you there to hold my hand. Back off, okay? I don't need any fucking help!"  
  
"Well, I think you do need help, because you're sure as hell not dealing with it on your own!"  
  
"Okay, I don't think we're talking about the VCR anymore." Tim said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Gee, ya think?" Calleigh sighed.  
  
Eric and Maria stopped bickering long enough to glance at their friends, then continued.  
  
In Russian.  
  
"Oh, come on." Tim groaned. "If they're going to fight in front of us, they could at least do it in a language we understand."  
  
"Otherwise it's just really uncomfortable." Calleigh agreed.  
  
"Well, would you rather this, or their usual grunting and screaming?" Tim pointed out.  
  
"I honestly don't even know any more." Calleigh sighed.  
  
Eric and Maria paused once more.  
  
"We could go talk in my room." Maria suggested.  
  
"Yeah, why don't we?" Eric said, glaring slightly at the couple on the couch. He followed her into her bedroom, shutting the door behind them. "Maria, you're being way too calm about all of this. You're acting like it's no big deal that you could have been murdered!"  
  
"What, like you fucking care?" Maria shouted.  
  
"Damn it, we have been over this before." Eric stepped closer to her. "I do care, all right? I care about you."  
  
"Eric, don't." Maria said. "Stop it."  
  
"I love you." Eric told her. "I've tried, these past three weeks, I've tried to stop. I can't."  
  
"Shut up." Maria choked out, closing her eyes.  
  
"Tell me you don't love me." Eric insisted. "If you don't feel anything for me, just say so. It won't kill me." His eyes drifted over to the bed, and he felt a pang of jealousy as it occured to him that someone else had been in that bed with her just hours before. "If I can survive seeing you with Hagen..."  
  
"Shut up!" Maria cried, raising her hand, as if to slap him.  
  
Instinctively, Eric caught her wrist, gently but firmly. She froze as his fingers brushed over a patch of skin that had a different texture from the rest.  
  
"Maria, what the hell..." Eric slowly turned her wrist over, and saw something he'd never noticed before. He took her other hand and inspected that wrist, and saw the same thing.  
  
Faint, jagged lines, one on each wrist, running down the blue veins that were faintly visible under her pale skin.  
  
Pulling her wrists out of his grasp, Maria jerked back, stumbling and sitting down hard on her bed.  
  
___________________________  
  
"You know, they were right." Calleigh sighed. "It was pretty insensitive of us to just sit here and watch them fight."  
  
"Yeah, it was." Tim agreed. He stared at her face for a moment. "You want to go listen at the door, don't you?"  
  
Calleigh looked down, blushing. "Yeah, a little."  
  
Maria's bedroom door opened at that moment, startling both of them.   
  
"Calleigh, something's wrong!" Eric said breathlessly.  
  
"What?" Calleigh jumped off the couch, and she and Tim followed Eric into the room. "What the hell did you do?"  
  
"Nothing." Eric insisted. "We were talking, she made like she was going to hit me, I grabbed her wrist to stop her. I...I felt the scars...and then she just collapsed."  
  
Maria was sitting at the foot of her bed, her eyes wide as she stared, silently, at her wrists.  
  
"No..." She whispered hoarsely.  
  
"Maria, what's wrong?" Calleigh said desperately. She placed her hand on her friend's shoulders, shaking her slightly. "Snap out of it! Maria!"  
  
******************************  
  
The pain was the first sign that she was waking up.  
  
Or regaining consciousness.   
  
She honestly couldn't be sure if she had fallen asleep, or just passed out.  
  
Or been knocked out.  
  
The worst pain was between her legs. Or maybe it was in her eye. Or her lip. Or her neck.  
  
Steeling herself against the sharp pangs that shot through her, she forced herself to her feet, and forced her eyes open. As much as she could, at least.  
  
He wasn't there. Neither were his friends.  
  
Thank God for small favors.  
  
She stumbled into the kitchen warily, glancing around to be sure that she was really alone in the apartment. His keys were on the kitchen table, and she grabbed them and made for the door, not stopping to put on shoes, or even close the door behind her.  
  
For a few minutes, she drove without any destination in mind. Only sheer desperation to get out of that dingy apartment. To be free, or at least less painfully caged.  
  
Then she realized where she was. Where she was close to. Who she was close to.  
  
What would he say when he saw the state she was in? If she told him what had happened, would he even believe her? Or would he shake his head sadly, disappointed, but not surprised?  
  
Stopped at a red light five minutes away from his house, she stared, almost transfixed, at the pocket knife on the key chain. She flipped the blade up without even thinking about it, tracing the sharp edge with one fingertip.  
  
***************************  
  
"Kids, come on, just eat your breakfast." Anton gently chided his three-year-old son and six-year-old daughter. He turned slightly in his chair and smiled at his wife, Joy. "Will you look at these kids of yours?"  
  
"Right." The petite Hawaiian-Vietnamese beauty said with a smirk as she sat down at the table with a bowl of cereal. "When they're misbehaving, they're 'my' kids..."  
  
Anton's reply was cut off by the loud, sustained sound of a car horn outside. "What in the hell?"  
  
Lelanie jumped out of her chair and ran to the window. Recognizing the car that had pulled up outside, she squealed. "It's Aunt Maria!"  
  
"What's she doing here?" Joy wondered, peering out the window. "And why is she leaning on the horn like that?"  
  
"I don't know..." Anton frowned. He stood up and went outside, approaching the beaten-up old car that belonged to his despised brother-in-law slowly. Terror seized him as he got close enough to see his sister in the driver's seat. "Maria!" He shouted, pulling the door open and catching her as she slid out, just barely preventing her head from hitting the pavement.  
  
Her face, neck, and chest were bruised. One eye was swollen almost completely shut, the skin around it was literally black. Her upper lip was split. Her t-shirt was shredded. Her denim shorts were torn. And her wrists...  
  
"Oh my God." Anton moaned as he became aware of the warm, sticky red liquid that was pooling in his lap as he cradled his sister. His baby sister. "Oh God, no, please..."  
  
"Anton?" Joy's voice sounded so far away. "What's...oh my God!"  
  
"Daddy?!" Lelanie shrieked, appearing in the doorway beside her mother. "What's wrong with Aunt Maria?"  
  
"Lanie, get back inside!" Anton ordered. "Joy, call an ambulance!"   
  
*******************************  
  
"Maria?!" Calleigh's voice finally broke the spell she was under, and she toppled forward, landing in her friend's arms.   
  
"I'm sorry." She sobbed against Calleigh's shoulder. "I'm sorry."  
  
"Shh, it's okay, baby." Calleigh said soothingly, stroking Maria's hair gently. "It's okay. You're with us, you're safe."  
  
___________________________  
  
"She's asleep?" Tim asked as Calleigh came back into the living room, leaving Maria's bedroom door open a crack.  
  
"Yeah." Calleigh sighed, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. She glanced at the other man in the room. "Eric, listen..."  
  
"No, you listen." Eric sounded like he was about to scream. Or cry. Or both. "I want to know what the hell is going on with her, Calleigh, please. What's wrong? Just tell me."  
  
Calleigh shook her head. "I can't-"  
  
"I need to know." Eric pleaded. "Calleigh, I love her so much. I want to know why this is happening to her."  
  
"All right!" Calleigh sat down on the couch, burying her face in her hands for a moment. "All right, fine." She took a deep breath. "It's hard to say...it's about her ex-husband. About what he did to her."  
  
"She already told me about that." Eric said. "He was controlling and verbally abusive."  
  
Calleigh shook her head. "It wasn't just verbal."  
  
Eric looked surprised. "She told me that he never hit her."  
  
"Well, she didn't tell you the truth." Calleigh said sadly. "He did beat her. And...and worse...much worse."  
  
"What do you mean?" Eric asked. Then it dawned on him, and he sank down onto the couch as his knees seemed to give out. "Oh my God. He raped her." It wasn't a question, but a statement.  
  
"Yeah." Calleigh closed her eyes and shuddered. "She never told me about it, either. Anton did, a few weeks after she moved in here. The night before she finally left him, he beat her within an inch of her life in front of his friends, and then..." She couldn't bring herself to say the words. "The next morning, he was gone when she woke up, so she took his car and drove to Anton's house. But somewhere on the way...I don't know, I guess something in her just snapped, and she cut her wrists. By the time she pulled up to his house, she was passing out."  
  
"Shit." Eric tried desperately to make sense of what he was hearing. "Why didn't she tell anyone? How could she possibly keep something like that bottled up?"  
  
"Denial." Calleigh stated simply. "She didn't even tell Anton about the rape until after the divorce was final. He told their parents, but when they confronted her about it, she denied it completely, and wouldn't speak to any of them for weeks. She couldn't cope with something so horrible, so she just wouldn't accept that it had happened. She repressed it."  
  
"And now, what happened the other night is bringing it all back to the surface." Tim spoke up.  
  
"Holy shit." Eric felt sick to his stomach. Just the thought of someone, anyone, treating Maria like that was unbearable. And the fact that it was someone she had loved and trusted made it even more hideous. "That's why she flipped out, when I said that I loved her."  
  
"That's right." Calleigh's voice broke slightly. She placed one hand over his. "I know. It breaks my heart, too, just thinking about it." A single tear slid down her cheek, and she brushed it away with her free hand. Without a word, Tim sat down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. She closed her eyes and leaned against him as he kissed her forehead tenderly.  
  
"What can we do?" Eric asked. "How can we help her?"  
  
"I don't know." Calleigh admitted, glancing towards Maria's door.   
  
______________________________  
  
"Hey!" Maria's cheerful voice pulled Eric out of a deep, dreamless sleep.   
  
She was standing in front of the couch, showered, dressed, and ready to go, snapping her fingers at the three of them.  
  
"What time is it?" Calleigh asked, yawning.  
  
"Eight." Maria replied. "Did you guys just sleep out here last night?"  
  
"Yeah, we were talking, I guess we fell asleep." Eric said, too groggy to register how normal Maria was acting after what had happen the previous night.  
  
"Well, come on, I made coffee and chocolate chip pancakes." Maria said as she went into the kitchen. "Get a move on, or we're all gonna be late."  
  
Eric, Calleigh, and Tim exchanged looks.   
  
Tim was the first to speak. "Well, now what?"  
  
_____________________________  
  
TBC... 


	7. Acceptance

Title: Damaged Goods (7/7)  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (including Maria. She's made it quite clear that she owns her own damn self, thank you very much.) I'm just borrowing them and will return them when I've had my fun, somewhat dazed and disheveled, but otherwise in their original condition. Also, Maria and I have decided to keep Eric for a while, and we're sending Tim to Yana...  
  
Rating: R, for the language and themes.  
  
Pairings: Eric/Maria, Tim/Calleigh, Maria/Hagen (What? Quit looking at me like that, it was her idea.)  
  
Feedback: Review it, or I'll send Maria to your house.  
  
Dedication: To Yana, for once again helping me get over what could have been a hideous writer's block, and of course, to all of you who have been reviewing. I can't tell you how much it helps.  
  
Soundtrack: "White Flag" and "Life for Rent" by Dido, "If I Fall" by Tara MacLean.  
  
Note: I've gotten a few inquires about my series, so I thought I'd just let ya'll know that they're all archived on Fanfiction.net, and the order is as follows. "Blood Ties," "Isolation," "Ripped," "Damaged Goods," and next up, hopefully before Friday, "Catalyst."  
  
__________________________________________  
  
"I didn't think I'd see you today, Maria." Horatio said as the team filed into the breakroom.  
  
Maria shrugged. "I said I'd be back today."  
  
"I know, but I figured it was an idle threat. Like last month, when you swore you would get back at me for calling you in on your day off." Horatio replied.  
  
Eric coughed, and Maria gave him a subtle look as she casually asked, "So, any news?"  
  
"Actually, yes." Horatio said. "They got him."  
  
No one spoke for a moment.  
  
"Wait, you mean they got the guy who..." Calleigh's question trailed off, but Horatio nodded.  
  
"Are they sure it's him?" Eric asked. "I mean, they're absolutely sure they've got the right guy?"  
  
"He denied all of it at first." Horatio explained. "Obviously, I don't know all of the details, but as soon as he was presented with the evidence against him, he cracked."  
  
"Is he here?" Maria asked.  
  
Knowing what she wanted, Horatio thought for a moment before replying. "Maria, I don't know if it's a good idea for you to see him."  
  
"I didn't ask you if you thought it was a good idea." Maria said, narrowing her eyes and crossing her arms. "I asked you if he's here. When I want your opinion..." She paused, then rolled her eyes. "Actually, that'll probably never happen. H, come on. I'm just asking for a little closure, here. That's all."  
  
"Adele and Lieutenant Walsh are interrogating him right now." Horatio relented.  
  
Maria left the room without another word, vaguely aware that the others were following her. Outside the interrogation room, she stopped short, a few feet away from the plate glass window.   
  
Adele and Lieutenant Taylor Walsh, the head of the CSI graveyard shift, were sitting across the table from the suspect. He looked young, clean-cut, completely normal.  
  
He glanced up, and his eyes focused on Maria for a moment. Adele followed his gaze, and gave Maria a sympathetic look.  
  
"Maria?" Eric's voice startled her slightly. She turned toward him, then walked quietly back to the breakroom. Eric and Calleigh followed her.  
  
"He recognized her." Tim said to Horatio.   
  
Horatio nodded. "It looked that way, didn't it?"  
  
_________________________  
  
"Maria?" Calleigh approached her friend carefully. "Maria, are you all right?"  
  
"Fine!" Maria replied tensely, turning around with an obviously fake smile plastered across her face.  
  
"No, you're not." Eric said. "Maybe you shouldn't have come back in today."  
  
"That's ridiculous, I'm perfectly capable of putting this behind me and doing my job." Maria wouldn't look either of them in the eye as she headed for the door.  
  
"We know, Maria." Calleigh blurted out. "We know everything. About Adam, about what he did to you...about what you did to yourself because of him. Anton told me, and I told Eric."  
  
"No." Maria's reply was barely audible. "No, he didn't tell you. He couldn't."  
  
"Maria, he did." Eric spoke up. "And Calleigh told me."  
  
"No, you can't know!" Maria sobbed, turning back to them. "You can't, because if he told you, and you know, then it happened, and it's real..." Her legs buckled and she sank down to her knees slowly. "It can't be real...I can't let it be real..."  
  
"Oh, God..." Eric knelt down beside her and gathered her into his arms. Calleigh followed him, rubbing Maria's back gently. She sagged against Eric's chest, her tears soaking through his shirt. "I'm sorry." He whispered against her hair. "Maria, I'm so sorry."  
  
"I'd better take her home." Calleigh said after a minute, her eyes shining with tears. "Could you explain this to Horatio?"  
  
______________________  
  
The television stared at him, and he stared right back. It flashed him with images usually appealing to his temporal lobe, but now the pictures changed and he remained just as still. He was about to turn it off and go into the kitchen when a voice from the doorway stopped him.   
  
"She bargained with me for a bath, but didn't even get to the bathroom, fell asleep." Calleigh sighed, sinking onto the couch and curling up against Tim's shoulder. "I took off her shoes for her, didn't want her to puncture the mattress with those things, and I put the covers over her. I guess we should just let her sleep for a while."  
  
"Probably a long while." Tim agreed, draping one arm around her as she kicked off her shoes and drew her knees up to her chest. "You okay?"  
  
"Not even close." Calleigh said as he kissed her forehead. "She's going to hate me for telling you and Eric, and she's going to hate Anton for telling me."  
  
"I don't think she is." Tim pulled her into his arms. "Cal, she's been living with it for two years, it was going to hit her like this sooner or later. And if it had been later, you know it would have been a lot worse."  
  
"Maybe." Calleigh admitted. "I just...I keep wondering how I would feel, if the tables were turned, and she'd told you about my dad, would I be mad? I just don't know. But then I remember that what she went through was so much worse..."  
  
"Different, not worse." Tim corrected.   
  
"I just hope we didn't break her." Calleigh said softly.  
  
"She already was broken." Tim insisted, kissing the top of her head.   
  
"Well, then I hope we can help fix her." Calleigh murmured, laying her head against his chest and closing her eyes.  
  
After a few minutes, her entire body relaxed, and her breathing became slow and even. Careful not to disturb her, Tim stood up with her in his arms and made his way into her bedroom. Laying her in the center of the bed, he pulled the sheet over her. As he leaned down to kiss her gently, she reached up and grabbed his wrist.  
  
"Stay." She whispered, opening her eyes slightly.  
  
"Okay." He hardly needed to be convinced. Kicking off his sneakers, he slid into the bed beside her, gathering her in his arms and holding her close as she drifted off again.  
  
___________________________  
  
Horatio was not a man who easily found himself at a loss for words. Nor was he easily shaken, not after so many years as a CSI. But as he stared at the younger man sitting on the other side of his desk, trying to make sense of what he had just heard, his mind was clouded with shock and revulsion. Anyone with good intuition could see that Maria had some secret, some pain that she kept hidden away. But this was just beyond comprehension.  
  
"Unbelievable, I know." Eric finally broke the silence. "What I wouldn't give for five minutes alone with that bastard."  
  
"I guess the line would form behind you, wouldn't it?" Horatio finally found his voice. "Calleigh and Speed took her home?" Eric nodded. "All right, good. If you'd rather be there-"   
  
Eric put up his hand and shook his head. "No, I need to work. Even if it's just paperwork or something. I can't do anything about her son of a bitch ex, but there has to be something I can do about this sick fuck we've got now. To be honest, what I'd really like to do about him is punch his teeth into the back of his skull, but since that's not possible..."  
  
"If it were, I'd hold him down for you." Horatio said. "For Maria. And for Natalie Mullaly." He handed Eric some papers. "Here. Jana Moon was supposed to fill these out, but she's been working for almost twenty-four hours with one half hour break. I'm sure she'd be grateful to have one less thing keeping her awake."  
  
"Okay." Eric said, taking the forms and starting to leave the office. "Thanks, H."  
  
"Yeah." After Eric was gone, Horatio waited for a moment, then walked out of his office, heading for the interrogation room. He wanted to see that sick pervert get hauled away in handcuffs, headed for a lifetime behind bars, if he was lucky.  
  
____________________________  
  
Calleigh resisted waking up for as long as she could, wanting to stay in the shelter of Tim's warm, strong arms. When she was finally unable to fight it off any more, she opened her eyes, yawning softly. Tim had fallen asleep, and she moved out of his arms slowly, not wanting to disturb him when he looked so peaceful. Someone in that damned apartment deserved some peace.  
  
Hearing a shuffling noise in the kitchen, she made her way out there slowly.   
  
Maria was standing in front of the refrigerator, pouring a shot of vodka into a glass that was already half-filled with Coke. She turned around slightly. "Hey." She said softly.  
  
"Hey, how are you feeling?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Bit of a headache." Maria replied. "But other than that, I'm good."  
  
Calleigh looked at the glass in her friend's hand. "You really should eat something with that. Why don't I make you a sandwich?"  
  
"I'm fine." Maria shrugged, sitting down at the table. "Is Tim here?"  
  
"Yeah, he's asleep." Calleigh replied. "Seriously, let me make you a sandwich or some soup or something. You need to eat something."  
  
"Fine." Maria sighed, taking a long sip of her drink. "Look, Cal, if you're trying to appease your guilty conscience-"  
  
"I really am so sorry." Calleigh said.  
  
"Don't be." Maria said softly. "I'm glad that Anton told you. And I'm glad that you told Eric."  
  
"You are?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Yeah." Maria looked up from her drink and smiled slightly. "I mean, it's hard to even describe it, but...God, Calleigh, for two years now, I've been telling myself that everything Adam did me was a bad dream. All of it. Even the stuff Anton didn't tell you about. Things I never even told him."  
  
Calleigh was shocked. "There's more?"  
  
"Don't worry about it." Maria told her. "If you really want to know, I'll tell you about it another time. The point is, he did such horrible things to me, and I just...I let him. I never once fought back, or tried to get help. I see girls all the time who have been raped and beaten and tortured, and I always tell them over and over that they need to get help, they need to talk to someone, so the asshole who attacked them can't hurt someone else. I mean, it's hypocritical. I never even dealt with what happened to me."  
  
"And I don't blame you." Calleigh said. "I can't even imagine what you went through."  
  
Maria nodded. "And I hope, more than anything, that you will never have to. I don't even know how I feel right now. I didn't want it to be real. But it is, and I can't change that. So, I guess I finally have to deal with it."  
  
Calleigh put one hand over Maria's. "You don't have to deal with it alone."  
  
"I know." Maria said. "Thank you."  
  
"Do you need anything else?" Calleigh asked.  
  
"Nah, I'm gonna go back to bed. You should get some rest, too." Maria set down her glass. "Calleigh, I won't lie to you. I'm not okay right now. But I will be."  
  
"Okay." Calleigh said, hugging Maria slightly. Somehow, she knew Maria was telling the truth.  
  
______________________  
  
"Did you see him?" Hagen asked.   
  
"Yeah." Eric said. "He looked like a damn kid."  
  
"Twenty-one years old, man." Hagen shook his head. "You gotta wonder, what kind of deep, dark shit does a guy go through in twenty-one damn years to make him want to do that kind of thing to a girl who never did anything to him."  
  
"I'm having a harder time figuring out what would make a guy would do that kind of thing to a girl he says he loves." Eric replied.  
  
Hagen looked perplexed. "What? Never mind, look, is Maria okay? Cause someone was telling me she had some kind of breakdown or something earlier."  
  
"Yeah, kind of." Eric shrugged. "It's not something I can really talk about though, okay? You should really talk to her about it."  
  
______________________  
  
"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine." Maria sighed. "I'll watch a video or something."  
  
"Okay, but if you need anything, I'll be at Tim's apartment." Calleigh reminded her.  
  
"I know, you told me that like, ten times." Maria threw a couch pillow at her friend. "Besides, what good's that gonna do me if I need anything? You know the phone's gonna be unplugged."  
  
Calleigh threw the pillow back. "Fine, fine, I'm going."  
  
A minute after Calleigh left, the buzzer sounded. Rolling her eyes, Maria got off the couch went to the door, and hit the intercom button. "Yeah?"  
  
"If there's something really serious that you need me for," Calleigh said. "I'll leave my cell phone turned on, just in case, okay?"  
  
"Okay, Cal, got it." Maria laughed, rolling her eyes. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her roommate's concern. But she already had one mother, and that was enough.  
  
The buzzer assailed her ears again.  
  
"Dammit, Calleigh, just go!" She moaned. "I'm okay!"  
  
"It's John. Is this a bad time?"  
  
"Oh, sorry, no." Maria said quickly. "I mean, yeah...I mean, hang on a second." She hit the button next to the door to let him in, then waited until she heard his footsteps in the hallway. "Hey." She said, opening the door for him. "How's it going?"  
  
"It's going all right." John replied, leaning down and kissing her on the cheek. "I just wanted to see if you were doing all right, I heard something happened at the lab today."  
  
"Yeah, it did." Maria sighed. "Actually, I'm glad you're here. I really need to talk to you."  
  
__________________________  
  
I haven't ever really found  
  
A place that I call home  
  
I never stick around  
  
Quite long enough to make it  
  
I apologize that once again  
  
I'm not in love  
  
But it's not as if I mind  
  
That your heart ain't exactly breaking  
  
It's just a thought  
  
Only a thought  
  
But if my life is for rent  
  
And I don't learn to buy  
  
Well I deserve nothing  
  
More than I get  
  
Cause nothing that I have  
  
Is truly mine  
  
__________________________  
  
"And that's it." Maria concluded, taking a deep breath. "I haven't seen him since."  
  
John didn't speak. For a second, she wasn't sure he was even breathing. "Jesus fucking Christ." He said finally. He touched her face gently. "Maria...God, I don't even know what to say."  
  
"Don't." She said, pulling away slightly. "It's okay. To tell you the truth, I'm not even sure what to say about it." She leaned in and kissed him softly. "I can't see you anymore."  
  
John nodded. "I know. I can't see you anymore, either."  
  
"I know." Maria smiled. "There's someone else. I understand. I'm in the same place."  
  
"Well, I get that." John said. "But how did you know about-"  
  
"Idiot." Maria sighed, rolling her eyes. "I got eyes, don't I?" She hit him playfully. "So, you don't want to be with me, and I don't want to be with you...what the hell are we doing here?"  
  
"I don't know." He admitted. "Just...stalling, I guess."  
  
"Yeah." Maria leaned back against the couch. "We had some fun though."  
  
"Yeah, we did." John chuckled. "Like that time on the pool table-"  
  
"Hey." Maria fixed him with a look, pouting playfully. "Is that 'never talking about it again?'"  
  
"All right, relax." There was a slight pause before he spoke again. "I should probably go."   
  
"Yeah, probably." She said. She walked him to the door, then hugged him slightly. "You really should make a move. Talk to her at least, okay?"  
  
"I will." He promised. "And you should talk to Delko. The guy's so in love with you it's sad."  
  
"I will." Maria sighed. "Anyway, I'll see you around, I guess."  
  
"Yeah. I'll see you, Maria."  
  
_______________________  
  
I've always thought that  
  
I would love to live by the sea  
  
To travel the world alone  
  
And live more simply  
  
I have no idea  
  
What's happened to that dream  
  
Cause there's really nothing  
  
Left here to stop me  
  
It's just a thought  
  
Only a thought  
  
But if my life is for rent  
  
And I don't learn to buy  
  
Well I deserve nothing  
  
More than I get  
  
Cause nothing that I have  
  
Is truly mine  
  
While my heart is a shield  
  
And I won't let it down  
  
While I am so afraid to fail  
  
So I won't even try  
  
Well how can I say I'm alive?  
  
But if my life is for rent  
  
And I don't learn to buy  
  
Well I deserve nothing  
  
More than I get  
  
Cause nothing that I have  
  
Is truly mine  
  
______________________  
  
"So you really think she's going to be okay?" Tim asked.  
  
Calleigh lifted her head off of his chest and smiled. "Yeah. It's gonna take a while, but she's going to get through this. I don't know how, but she is." Pushing him back slightly, she rolled on top of him and pressed her lips against his. Then she pulled back, gently trailing one finger down his chest. "In fact, I'm so sure she's going to be all right, I don't think we need to talk about this anymore."  
  
Tim grinned and pulled her against him. "You won't hear me complaining."  
  
______________________  
  
I know you think  
  
That I shouldn't still love you  
  
Or tell you that  
  
But if I didn't say it  
  
Well I'd still have felt it  
  
Where's the sense in that?  
  
I promise I'm not trying  
  
To make your life harder  
  
Or return to where we were  
  
But I will go down with this ship  
  
And I won't put my hands up and surrender  
  
There will be no white flag above my door  
  
I'm in love and always will be  
  
______________________  
  
"No one expects the Spanish Inquisition!" Maria shouted along with the Monty Python sketch on the TV screen. Hearing a knock on the door, she paused the tape. "Sorry, Mrs. Wozniack, I'll try to keep it down!"  
  
"What the hell?" A familiar voice said.  
  
"Oh, hey." Maria called, getting off the couch to open the door. "I keep forgetting to get that key back from you."  
  
"Here." Eric said, handing it to her. "I just wanted-"  
  
"To see if I'm all right." Maria finished for him. "You and the rest of Miami. And no, I'm not all right. But I will be."  
  
"What that fucking bastard did to you...God, just thinking about it makes me feel like I'm going to throw up." Eric told her. "Now I understand why you got so upset, when I said I love you. He told you that he loved you, didn't he?"  
  
"Every time." Maria sighed. "Said he loved me so much, he'd rather kill me than let me leave. That he'd put his gun in my mouth and pull the trigger before he'd let another guy touch me."  
  
"Maria." Eric placed his hand on her arm to steady her, but she shook him off.  
  
"Unless, of course, the other guy paid him first." Maria continued bitterly, looking at the floor.  
  
"Unless he...oh God..." Eric sat down on the couch as the room seemed to spin around him. "Oh God, no. Tell me he didn't..."  
  
"He did." Maria's voice was high and breathy, as if she were fighting back tears. "The night before I left him. There were two guys there, friends of his, I guess. They paid him...cash, cocaine, I have no idea. Anyway, whatever it was, it was enough. He let them at me. Then...when they were done, they left, and he beat the living hell out of me, for 'letting' them touch me. And then he raped me." She said the last sentence in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "It wasn't the first time, either. I told Anton it was. And I didn't tell him about those two guys."  
  
"Why not?" Eric asked.  
  
"Because I knew what he would do." Maria sighed. "That's why I didn't tell him that Adam raped me that night until after the divorce was final and Adam had taken off. I knew what he'd do, and I knew he'd tell the rest of our family, and I knew what they'd do." She paused and looked into the eyes of her former lover. "The same thing you're wishing you could do to him right now."  
  
"You should have let them at the bastard." Eric said. "Should have let him get what he had coming."  
  
"Not from my family." Maria insisted. "They've all got good lives, good careers. And there's still so much ahead of them. And you, too. All of you are much too good to throw your lives away over some coke-addled rapist who's not worth the bullet it would take to splatter what little brains he has across the wall."  
  
"I don't think he has any brains at all." Eric reached for her, and this time she let him take her into his arms. "He was too stupid to see what an amazing gift he had. He never saw how beautiful you are, in so many ways. He didn't love you, Maria."  
  
"I know that now." She sighed, wrapping her arms loosely around his neck. "I'm just...angry with myself, for letting him do that shit to me for so long. I shouldn't be. I should be angry with him."  
  
"You will be." Eric kissed the top of her head. "I know you've probably heard this too many times today already, but you're stronger than him. Stronger than he ever could be. You'll rise above this. And you won't be alone."  
  
"I know." Maria whispered, although secretly, she knew better. "Eric?" She said after a moment. "I love you."  
  
He didn't say anything. So many times, he'd dreamed of hearing her say those words. He'd never imagined that they would break his heart.   
  
Maria lifted her head off of his chest, and he saw tears in her eyes. "Have I ruined everything? After the way I've treated you these past few weeks?"  
  
"No, it's not you." Eric insisted. "It's me. I'm afraid, Maria. Afraid of hurting you, even though I would never try to. You've been hurt too much already. I couldn't live with myself if I caused you any more pain."  
  
"I understand." Maria said, her voice catching on a sob. "Maybe we're just meant to be friends. Just friends."  
  
"Maybe." Eric agreed.   
  
___________________________  
  
I know I left too much  
  
Mess and destruction to come back again  
  
And I cause nothing but trouble  
  
I understand if you can't talk to me again  
  
And if you live by the rules of it's over  
  
Then I'm sure that it makes sense  
  
But I will go down with this ship  
  
And I won't put my hands up and surrender  
  
There will be no white flag above my door  
  
I'm in love and always will be  
  
_______________________________  
  
"I'll just be a minute." Calleigh said, unlocking the apartment door. She stepped inside, and Tim followed her. "I just want to change my clothes real quick. I get so annoyed when people whisper..." She trailed off as she picked up a piece of paper from the coffee table.  
  
"Cal?" Tim was immediately concerned when he saw the look on his girlfriend's face. "Babe, what is it?"  
  
____________________________  
  
"Did you get the message?" Eric asked.  
  
"About the guy in that arson case pleading guilty?" Hagen said. "Yep. I'm glad to hear it, too. I really didn't feel like spending my day in a courtroom."  
  
"You and me both." Eric agreed, pouring a cup of coffee.  
  
"Gentlemen." Horatio greeted them as he entered the breakroom. "I take it you've both heard?"  
  
"Yeah, we were just talking about that, H." Eric replied. "Hey, did you call Maria about it? She was supposed to testify, too, I think."  
  
"I left a message for her, but she might not have gotten it." Horatio said, taking out his cell phone. He dialed Maria's pager number.  
  
A few feet away on the counter, a pager that none of the men had noticed before started to beep.  
  
"That's Maria's." Eric said, picking it up. He scanned the piece of paper that had been under the pager.  
  
___________________________  
  
"'Dear Calleigh.'" Tim read the letter out loud. "'Here's a check for my half of the rent for the next two months, if I'm gone longer than that, I'll send...'" He put the paper down and embraced Calleigh. "I'm sorry, baby."  
  
____________________________  
  
"She's taken a leave of absence." Horatio said, setting down the letter. He looked at Eric grimly. "I'm sorry."   
  
Reading the letter again, Eric smiled slightly. "I'm not."  
  
"Why not?" Hagen asked.  
  
"Look." Eric pointed to the end of the letter. "She signed her full name. Maria Esperanza Santiago."  
  
Hagen still didn't get it. "So?"  
  
"So, her middle name." Eric said, rolling his eyes. "Esperanza. It's the Spanish word for hope."   
  
________________________  
  
It seems so far to go  
  
It took so long to get here  
  
Now I'm saying things  
  
I swore I'd never say  
  
And I'm afraid again  
  
I thought I had it in me  
  
I used to be so sure  
  
There I was stronger than ever  
  
And here I am blaming the hurt  
  
And if I fall  
  
I will find a way back to my hands  
  
I'm the only one who can  
  
Help me find my feet again  
  
Sweet little fighter  
  
Sweet little scar  
  
Sweet little fire  
  
In my heart  
  
________________________  
  
Pulling the light blue Beetle convertible up to the edge of where the asphalt met the sand and turning off the engine, Maria took out her cell phone and dialed a familiar number.  
  
"Hello?" A woman's voice answered on the third ring.  
  
"Hey, it's me." Maria said. "You know how you said you were thinking about hiring someone to help out around the house for a while? I think I've got a better idea..."  
  
_________________________  
  
It seems so easy now  
  
Everything I dreamed about when I was a child  
  
It looks like a good place here  
  
So I think I'll stay for awhile  
  
And if I fall  
  
I will find a way back to my hands  
  
I'm the only one who can  
  
Help me find my feet again  
  
You came here screaming  
  
And never stopped to listen  
  
To your one and only prayer  
  
A place for you somewhere  
  
_________________________  
  
Up Next:  
  
"Something truly horrible has happened. I have to get to her right now."  
  
**************  
  
"It's that one visit, that one knock on the door, that we all say we're prepared for, but we're all secretly hoping it will happen to 'someone else.' We forget that we're all 'someone else' to everyone else."  
  
**************  
  
"Even if I knew that this is where we'd end up, I would do it all again. Don't you think you deserve something that you could say that about?"  
  
*************  
  
Stay tuned! 


End file.
